


Into the Woods We Sauntered

by bebe_writer



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:33:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25805185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bebe_writer/pseuds/bebe_writer
Summary: Negan catches a group stealing his food. When one of them turns out to be a deadly raven haired beauty, he needs to find out more. Everyone gets a choice.
Relationships: Negan (Walking Dead)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

Negan bashed in the brains of the man kneeling in front of him as hard as he could. 

He hated these people with the vitriol of ten men. He hated anyone who would dare come at him like these fuckers did. And why shouldn’t he? They attacked, he retaliated, that’s how it was supposed to go. He wanted these fuckers dead in the ground sooner rather than later.

Lucile vibrated in his hands with each blow to his skull. Blood splattered on his face and arms, but he didn’t care. He revelled in it. Reminded him of exactly what sheer and utter power felt like.

These seven random scavengers tried to steal canned non-perishables out of one of his trucks yesterday. Apparently, this was where all the missing food was going for the last week. Thank god he was smart enough to introduce an inventory system when he was building the Sanctuary. Without it, shit like this would happen all the time with no one the wiser.

In reality, they only stole enough for seven people, which would hardly make Negan loose sleep, it wasn’t a lot of food. But that wasn’t the point. It was the principal of it all. He wanted everyone to know that stealing from him was unacceptable. Stealing from him was against the rules. And rules were meant to be followed. Especially his rules.

This group almost made it without getting caught if it wasn’t for Simon’s watchful eye. Sometimes Negan wondered how his Saviours managed to get through this world without being killed with their thoughtlessness and lack of awareness. They had _one_ job, and they couldn’t even do that shit correctly.

Negan was a reasonable man; he was only going to kill the leader of the group. The rest would get a choice. Everyone had a choice between joining or getting acquainted with Lucile. Part of him hoped from the latter as he was getting rusty with his swings.

“Wow-ie,” he cried giddily when the blood spurted out like a fountain and all over his leather jacket. “We got ourselves a fruit gusher here, folks!”

The remaining six stayed on their knees with their hands cuffed behind their head. His men were behind them, gun pointed at the base of each of their skulls. If any of them moved, his men were instructed to shoot.

He finally finished and looked down at their dimly lit faces. He was happy the flood lights still worked in the trucks. It was pitch black out and he didn’t feel like having stumble around in the dark looking for the right head to smash in.

The three men on the far left were snivelling in fear, one clearly had wet himself. The middle-aged woman in the middle was crying for her boyfriend that he apparently just killed, and the last three were wincing in a mixture of mild disgust and calculation.

The last three intrigued him. The skinny man with shaggy brown hair looked scared, but not as petrified as he would have liked. He looked like he was trying to solve a math equation of some kind.

The other man could have easily been some type of body builder, his crew cut and the way he was kneeling told Negan it would take a lot to put any fear into this man. His chest swelled out of the shirt that needed a wash. His entire face was covered in blood and bruises.

And finally, the last woman who knelt similarly to Mr. Muscles. She looked even more calm and calculating than he did. She had long dark hair that matched the man to her right. It was weaved and pulled back into two French braids that stopped right at her tits. She had nice tits, too. Negan couldn’t help but stare. She must’ve been in her late twenties or early thirties.

“Welp,” Negan said as he tried and failed to shake the guts off his bat. “That’s all she wrote, folks!”

He sauntered over to the group kneeling before him, pointing his bat at the attractive woman. “As for the rest of you. We have a place, a safe haven if you will…”

He went on his usually spiel about the Sanctuary. He told them how if they didn’t join he would kill them, how they have to work with the point system, how he needed big strong soldiers such as themselves to work for him, and everything else that came with living on the compound.

“And lastly,” he said finally. “You all belong to me. Every part of you, every inch, belongs to me. You are all me. You all will be Negan.”

The three on the left agreed almost immediately. The one who pissed himself practically kissed Negan’s boots where he knelt. The other man just agreed and started thanking him profusely.

Even the woman who was crying nodded, seeming to forget her dead boyfriend pretty fucking quickly. Negan wondered if she was doing all that blubbering just to put on a show. She was a round pudgy thing, he would have to send her to work the kitchen. She must know how to cook if she still managed to be fat in an apocalypse.

The three on the right quickly exchanged curious glances. All their expressions restrained and analyzing. Negan could just tell by looking at them that they would give him the most trouble. These three weren’t sheep and they didn’t look mentally weak like the others.

Then they began speaking in language that Negan didn’t recognize.

“English, people!” he growled while pointing the bat at the big one. “I like to know what people are saying about little old me.”

The woman muttered something unintelligible under her breath making both the men chuckle.

He walked to her in two strides and grabbed her braid by the fistful and forced her to look up at him. “You got jokes, girlie?! Well, let the whole class in on it!” he yelled.

She looked up at him under impossibly long lashes. She had striking green eyes, a little bit lighter than moss. Her angled face gave her a sharp edge. From what little he could see in the headlights of the truck, she had blood caked around her mouth and chin. She looked like a biter, minus the being dead part. 

Her jaw was set but she didn’t speak a word. She simply shook her head with what little slack Negan was giving her.

He threw her to the ground and turned to the pipsqueak kneeling next to Mr. Muscles. When he grabbed the boy by the front of his sweater, the other two finally had a look of concern, their carefully constructed expression faltering at the threat of harm to the tiny one.

“Don’t you fucking touch him!” the girl screamed trying to get to her feet.

One of the Saviours smacked her down to the grass with a backhand to the face. The girl then kicked the Saviour’s feet out from under him in retaliation, sending him on his ass. When he tried to reach for her foot, Mr. Muscles suddenly slammed the heel of his boot into the Saviour’s face.

“You keep your greasy fucking hands off my sister!” he yelled.

They all winced when they heard the noise of Mr. Muscle’s heel making contact with Brandon’s face. The loud crunch and snap indicated that he had clearly broken a nose and possibly fractured a skull.

Brandon groaned and held his hand to his nose as blood gushed out of it. He was also coughing up excessive amounts of snot, blood and teeth. He rolled over in pain, but Negan couldn’t help but smile. Their moves looked pretty good. Way more agile than his bumbling idiots for soldiers.

Muscles was standing over him with his hands tied behind his back looking at Brandon murderously. When the other Saviours pointed their rifles at him, he braced himself, looking like he was readying himself for a fight.

“We hot diggity dog!” Negan said. “Look at you two! Without even using your hands! This your brother too?” he asked shaking the skinny one he was still holding.

“Yes,” the girl said quietly.

The skinny one mumbled in their weird language and finally all three of them began nodding. She replied in a biting tone, indicting that she was arguing. The skinny one joined in, again, in some weird fucking language. The two kept talking over each other when finally Muscles replied with a thunderous, “Kafia!”

The woman quieted, but Negan could tell she was seething. He still could not place the language at all. What the fuck did _Kafia_ mean?

“Verdict?” Negan asked finally. He was sick of this shit already.

“Alright,” the Muscley one said while cracking his neck. “We’ll join your ranks,” he nodded to the skinny one Negan was gripping. “But Mark stays away from the gun fodder. He ain’t built for that shit, he’s smart.”

Negan smiled at Skinny Minnie Mark. “Well, that is just peachy! Simon, cut these guys loose will ya?”

One of the Saviours began cutting the big boy’s restraints. His face was caked in blood and dirt so Negan couldn’t really get a great look at him. He could see his face was hard pressed and cold. He saw the similarity between him and the girl for sure now. He was maybe in his late thirties, early forties.

“Name?” Negan barked impatiently.

“Frank,” he answered bluntly, his baritone voice vibrating through the woods.

The woman was brought to her feet and Negan could see she was still incredibly guarded. As Simon cut her loose, Negan let go of Mark. He easily slinked over to her and put his hand under her chin to make her look up at him.

“And what’s your name, dolly?”

“Elizabeth,” she said just as bluntly as Frank did.

She stepped back, wrenching her chin away from Negan’s gloved hand. She wordlessly reached around him and took Mark’s sleeve and led them to flank either side of Frank.

“People call her Billie,” Mark said quietly rubbing his wrists.

“Look,” Frank said folding his arms across his chest authoritatively. “We’ll join you. But we have a few things we need to know.”

Negan snorted and placed his bat over his shoulder. He spotted this alpha male from a mile away. He liked alpha’s when they knew who their master was, not when they thought they were running the show. 

“You don’t need to know anything. You do as I say. End of fucking story.”

Frank ignored him. “I need to know that your men will behave themselves around my sister.”

Negan rolled his eyes and pointed to the sky like he was David Bowie. “Alright, team, all together now. What’s our number one rule?!”

“No rape,” all the Saviours said in unison.

Negan outstretched his arms like a jeopardy show host, impressed that he was putting on such a damn fine show for his new recruits.

“There women and children in there?”

“Yuppers,” Negan replied, bored.

“How many men you got?”

“Soldiers? Dunno, last time I counted it was about seventy some. Six to seven hundred live in there though,” Negan said pointing over the wall. “Now, most of these questions can be answered on the grand tour, and I’m overqualified for that shit, so lets get moving.”

“I also have a condition,” Frank said, stopping Negan in his tracks. The balls on this guy... giving him orders. 

Before Negan could interrupt, Frank jabbed his finger at the other three captured. “You let me kill those assholes.”

Negan burst out laughing. “Well, well, welly, well, well!” he said. “You three sure are a lot of fun!”

Billie was glaring at Frank. Clearly, she didn’t approve of this part of the plan.

“Now,” Negan said walking over to Frank and putting his had on his shoulder. “Why on earth do you wanna kill your little buddies?”

Frank’s eyes were practically black in the headlights. “They entered our home. Took our food. Threatened us with explosives rather than their hands, like fucking cowards. The one you just killed tried to rape my sister. You should see where _his_ cock is now.”

Negan swivelled around and indeed did see a big red stain on the crotch of the pants of the man he just killed. He turned back to Billie and saw her lips and jaw were caked in dried blood. Even a little bit had dribbled down her neck. 

She looked like a savage, and now that he learned that little Billie Jean has quite literally bit a mans penis off, Negan was even more intrigued, if not tickled that these people would join. 

He laughed almost maniacally and regarded her impressively. “That your handy work, Vampira!?”

She ignored him while Frank continued. “He attacked Billie and she defended herself. I wrestled their shit off and they ran. Then that woman came in and kidnapped Mark. Threatened to kill him if we didn’t let those idiots off. We were at a standoff when your boys pulled up.”

Negan chuckled again, getting the full story. He liked these guys. They had balls and enough spunk to fill them.

“Alright,” Negan finally agreed. “But this is a one-time only thing. Don’t think you can sweet talk me with all that cock talk all the time,” he quipped walking over to Simon to lean against the truck. “Have at ‘er.”

“He’s lying!” the older fat woman said. She was looking between Frank and Negan, clearly trying to find a way out of it. “He… he attacked me! They… they…”

“Can it, Jaba,” Negan barked. “I can see by the size of you that this ain’t the first time you done this. You guys are hyenas. And in my house, there’s no dogs allowed.”

Simon threw Frank a hunting knife that Negan never saw before. He assumed it belonged to Frank since he snagged it from the pile of shit that came from the loot.

Frank marched over to the line of scared thieves. Without a moment’s hesitation he rammed the hunting knife into the neck of the one that pissed himself. He kicked the other one in the teeth before he shoved the knife into his temple, spurting blood out like a geyser.

When his eyes set on the woman he moved so he was standing behind her. At this point the woman was just screaming profanities at him and their family. Frank crouched down and took a fistful of her hair and yanked it back to expose her throat. He twisted the knife expertly and brought his hand down to slit it perfectly from ear to ear.

She made a nauseating gurgling noise as she choked and drown in her own blood. She fell head first into the grass with her trying to worm out of restraints. The red of her blood staining it under the harsh floodlights of the trucks.

She was still twitching when Frank cleaned off the knife and sheathed it back into his holster.

“Well slap my ass and call me sally! You certainly are something!” Negan exclaimed. He then took a step forward and outstretched his hand, motioning with his fingers to hand him the knife.

“You earn the right to be trusted with weapons,” Negan informed him. “Hand the blade over.”

Frank rolled his eyes but flipped it out and handed it to Negan handle first.

When he took it from him, Frank turned and stood next to his brother and sister.

“You got blood all over your hands, Frankie” Mark said quietly. “You need to–”

“– Not now Mark,” Frank growled.

Negan chuckled and pointed his bat at Mark. “So, you’re supposed to be the smarty pants here then?”

“Yes,” he answered calmly.

“And what did you do before the world ended?”

“Engineer,” Mark answered quietly. “PHD.”

Negan chuckled and put his bat back over his shoulder. “That doesn’t sound _that_ impressive.” 

And for the first time, he saw the young man’s eyes flash in anger. He looked offended and annoyed. His siblings however, kept the same guarded expression on their faces.

“I mostly focussed on activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas, and production are deemed to fall within the _upstream_ ,” he snapped. “Which of course concentrates on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs, as well as the estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water and gas within porous rock at very high pressure,” he finished after seeing how confused Negan was.

“In other words, I am _really, really,_ fucking smart. I am _so_ fucking smart, that I make smart people look _retarded_ ,” he said indignantly. 

Negan burst out laughing at the little twerp. Some of the Saviours chuckled along with him.

“Simon, can you believe this kid?!” he exclaimed. “Holy shit! And here I thought all your family’s spunkiness was all doled out for your brother and sister!”

Mark looked satisfied and backed down. When Negan’s eye’s landed on the woman. Frank stepped in front of her slightly, giving Negan a warning to back down.

“Relax, G.I. Joe,” Negan groaned. “I just would like to ask the young lady some questions as well. She can ride up front with me so we don’t turn into the biters evening snack.”

When both Mark and Frank looked like they were going to protest he raised his bat and pointed it at them.

“That wasn’t a fuckin’ request. Get in the fucking car.”

Billie sighed while looking at her siblings. “It’s a two second drive around to the front gate. It’s fine.” 

She didn’t wait for a response from either. She made her way to the passenger side of one of the cars while the rest followed. Negan rolled his eyes when the two brothers got in the back of the same car.

“So,” he said turning on the ignition and backing out. “What the fuck did you do before all this shit?”

“I was a pilot.”

Negan’s eyebrows shot up. Suddenly the idea of having a private plane jetting around the world sounded very pleasing.

“So, if we make a trip to the airport, you’d be able to take us away on a fun Hawaiian adventure?” he asked grinning at her with a charming smile. He was hoping she would smile back.

She didn’t.

“No,” she answered dully as if she heard these comments one hundred times before. “I was a pilot in the Coastguard, flew helicopters for rescues.”

Negan frowned at that. All his fun times with pina coladas and scantily clad women were flushed down the toilet.

“You have to do military training for that?” he asked.

Simon was his only military man at the moment, so it would be nice to have someone else who knew how to run shit properly. Plus, when she took down that Saviour with a swift kick of her boot, he could tell she was not just another schlump that learned how to fight when the world ended. She had experience.

“Yes,” she mumbled.

“How ‘bout you big guy?” Negan asked looking in the rear-view mirror. Judging by the way the man carried himself, Negan clocked him as ex-military before they even spoke.

“Marine,” he replied looking out the window.

“So, you must love semen then?” Negan quipped while laughing at his own joke. “Christ, powerhouse family up in here! One smarty pants engineer, one sexy mamma pilot, and a big beef cake marine. Wait till Rick gets a load of you! Who knew I would be such a lucky ducky, huh?”

None of them spoke in reply. 

When they approached the front gate, Billie’s head snapped to look in the back seat. “Kam eadad alqanasin aldhyn tarahum?”

“'Ahasib st,” Mark answered.

“sabieat. fatik alrajul ealaa akhar algharbiati,” Frank grunted.

“Enough!” Negan yelled, bringing the car to a full stop. He turned and looked at the three siblings with malice. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough before. So, let me lay out a new rule for you: When in my presence, I want to know what you are saying. You speak English or I’ll cut out your fucking tongue so you can’t speak at all!”

“Apologies,” Mark said quickly. “We were just counting your snippers. We typically like to know our surroundings before we enter a new location. Exit strategy and all.”

Negan snorted and put the car in drive again. No doubt his men were probably wondering why he stopped so abruptly.

He also saw Frank give Mark a murderous glare for divulging their family’s big trade secret. It seemed that little Frankie Poo was scared Negan would figure out their plan. He really couldn’t blame them for wanting to know how to leave in case shit hit the fan.

“What fucking language was that, anyways?”

“Eurbaa… Arabic,” Frank said.

“How the fuck do you speak Arabic?”

“I was deployed before the world ended,” Frank muttered.

Negan began slamming his hand on the roof of the car, telling the men to hurry up and open the gate.

When it slowly creeped open the car went still until they started driving again.

Billie looked into the back again giving Frank a look. It was obvious they had some silent words, but Negan couldn’t bring himself to care. He was tired, and he needed a bath from the day’s activities.

“Simon will direct you all to your rooms and give you the rundown of the shit we need from you. Each of you will be assigned a job and then work your way up in the ranks. And judging from what you did today… shouldn’t take you too long,” Negan said pulling through the gate and parking. “Especially for you, doll.”

Billie glared out the window at one of the snippers but made no comment.

“Can you shoot, honey buns?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she answered curtly. It was clear she was angry and Negan couldn’t wait to unpeel the layers of this one. He had been thinking of taking on another wife anyways. Maybe he’d ask her.

“Welcome to your new home, boys and girls.”


	2. Chapter 2

Billie wasn’t surprised that they were caught by the Saviours. She was secretly hoping they would be. At least it got them out of that horrifically planned incarceration from those other idiots. She knew Frank was seething about being taken hostage from a bunch of backcountry, redneck, assholes. She couldn’t really blame him, with all their training and their upbringing, it was quite frankly embarrassing.

When their attackers first infiltrated their bunker wearing bomb vests, she wasn’t scared, these people didn’t know what they were doing. She did, however, chide herself for being so careless. The three moronic thieves didn’t even know how to tie up hostages properly. When one assailant threw her over his shoulder to rape her in the bedroom, she caught eyes with Frank. He nodded in encouragement for her to attack by any means necessary.

When he dropped her on the bed and pulled his cock out, she didn’t even let him get his gun out before she took it in her mouth and bit down as hard as she could. She could feel the flesh tear between her teeth and the warm blood drip down her chin. She didn’t care. She wanted this man to feel pain. And although it was disgusting, she wondered if this is what biters felt when they killed someone.

The man screamed in pain as he held his bleeding crotch.He fell backwards into the futon that was in her bedroom, knocking over a table and lamp in the process. She couldn’t see what she had done to him as his fingers grasped the bloody nub that was once where his penis was. Blood used between his fingertips and all she could do is stare, she felt oddly proud and somewhat disgusted. 

She easily rid herself of her restraints and stood glaring at him. She could hear Frank scream at the other assailant clearly he had gotten out of his restraints as well. 

When her attacker tried to stand, Billie snatched the dagger she hid between her mattress and box spring and stomped to where he lay screaming in a pool of him own blood.

The man lifted his hand to see the damage Billie had inflicted and he started vomit, his manhood completely severed by her blunt teeth.

She left him there. Her brothers well being was more important. Let him bleed. 

When they fled their underground bunker, she was glad Frank was so prepared in building it so close to the Sanctuary. They heard about Negan from other drifters. Frank knew this would be the place to go in case of an emergency. Even if it meant having to live with them until they could find a way out. Her brother was smart that way.

She was shocked that Negan and his men never caught on or found them building it. She was even more shocked that they believed Frank when he said they were on the road. She supposed they looked the part, what with all their tatty clothes and mud stained faces.

When they pulled up to the fence to the Sanctuary, she made a mental note of counting how many Mississippi’s it took for the gate to open. A whole 6 Mississippi’s. She looked back at Frank he nodded, mouthing the word ‘six’ to her in confirmation. They would need to know this when they escaped.

They exited the vehicle and Negan began barking orders leaving them to stand awkwardly. Billie questioned if she should just make a run for it while the gate was still open but thought better of it. Frank would kill her for making such a brash and uncalculated move. Didn’t matter either. They had cars and knew the land better than they did. They’d find her in hours if not minutes.

When Negan ordered a man named Dwight to lead them to their rooms, she saw Frank’s head snap up. He would hate this, being separated on the first night. He would want them all within his eyesight to protect them in case any shit happened during the evening. He was protective like that.

Negan disappeared to the east gate and the three of them were led through the corridors and hallways. They were showed where to get food, where to report every morning, and finally their separate bedrooms side by side. She thanked whatever god that was listening that she was to be roomed right next to her brothers.

“You guys stay in my room tonight,” Frank ordered after the Saviour left them. “I don’t trust these assholes.”

“We’re not staying are we?” Billie asked as Mark shut the door to Frank’s room. “This Negan guy is a fucking lunatic.”

“I know,” he said. “But we need a place to crash. We’ll stay here a few weeks. Once we get a better feel of the land and we gain their trust, we’ll get the fuck out of here. Steal some shit too.”

Billie nodded in agreement, but Mark looked like he wasn’t buying it.

“You got somethin’ to say?” Frank asked him.

Mark ran his fingers through his shaggy hair before answering. “I don’t know, you guys. This place is structurally sound, has good defense. We might be safer here than out there. It’s been forever since we were in a group. Strength comes in numbers.”

Frank snorted and reached behind himself to pull his dirty t-shirt off. “Oh yeah?” he muttered. “You remember how well it went last time we were with a group?”

He walked over to the small couch and rubbed his face while Billie began washing her blood crusted face in the sink, turning the water from clear to pink. She didn’t want to argue about this tonight. She just needed to some sleep to forget about the shit day they had.

“Look, guys,” she said patting her face. “Can we just talk about this tomorrow? I’ll take the floor.”

“I got the floor. You look like one of the biters. Mark, you take the bed. Billie, couch, now,” Frank ordered.

All three siblings slept soundly that night, preparing for whatever was to come in store for them in this hellhole he called a home.

**XXXX**

Billie sat with Frank and Mark at their table in the far corner of the cafeteria. All three of them were speaking in hushed voices, trying to figure out the structure of their new home. In the short time they sat they had devised an emergency exit strategy as well as a plan B and C. They were also counting Saviours and getting Mark to memorize the guards shift rotations in case they needed to evade prying eyes.

They had been here almost a full month and Billie wanted to shoot herself in the foot to get out of the mundane work she was doing. The day after they were taken into the Sanctuary she was assigned to the artillery room. She was charged with cleaning, organizing, and taking inventory of the guns. 

Frank was put on dispatch. He hated it almost more than she hated her job. Mark was put on laundry, he was also not pleased. It seemed as though Simon was intimidated by the three’s expertise. She had not idea why, if anything they would help them be better.

Suddenly the entire cafeteria went silent. The three siblings looked up and saw that Negan had entered. Everyone in the large hall got up out of their seats and knelt on one knee as he weaved between tables. 

She had only seen glimpses of him since she arrived. She didn’t even think he came down here to eat with the common folk. He seemed to be too wrapped up in banging his wives in his tower. 

The stupid baseball bat was propped on his shoulder while he searched the crowd. When his eyes made contact with Billie, he perked up and strode towards their table. 

“Is… is he serious?” Billie said with hint of laughter.

“Should we…?” Mark asked.

Frank grunted and moved to kneel, with the other two begrudgingly following.

“Well, well, welly, well, well,” Negan greeted coming to a stop in front of Billie. “How are my new recruits?”

Billie continued to kneel and stared at his boots. She was more than aware that his crotch was right in front of her face. She knew he was trying to intimidate her, and it wasn’t working. If anything, she found it sad that he needed to assert so much dominance. In her mind, actions bred loyalty and fear. Not all this peacocking and talking shit.

She would let Frank take the lead on this guy. As far as Billie was concerned, he was her leader. Not this guy.

“Good,” Frank grumbled. He was probably annoyed they were still kneeling. 

“Fabulous!” he said before turning to the crowd. “As you were!”

Everyone rose to their seats and continued eating. Billie finished her food long ago and sat back down. She always hated that Mark took forever to eat. Even when they were kids.

Negan sat down on the bench and slide right up next to her, his side completely flush against her own. When she shifted to give him more room, he simply slid further. He propped Lucille up against the side of the bench. It wasn’t covered in blood anymore. In fact, it looked brand new it was so shiny. Billie idly wondered how he got it so clean.

“So, today we’re going to see where your skills are at,” he said directly to Frank. “All the guys are telling me that y’all are overqualified to being doing the shit you’ve been doing.”

 _No shit,_ she thought dryly.

He turned to Billie, his face centimeters from his own and squeezed her thigh under the table. “Same goes for you too, toots.”

Billie used her forefinger and thumb to dig into a pressure point on his wrist making him wince and grunt in pain, finally releasing her leg. “I don’t like to be touched,” she growled.

Negan laughed in response. She noticed he was rubbing his wrist in pain though, that made her happy. “You clean up nice, sweetheart. I mean, you looked gorgeous covered in cock blood, but I gotta say I prefer this look.”

Billie didn’t look at him nor offer a response. She just stared at her empty plate of food.

“And as for you Mr. Smarty Pants,” Negan said nodding to Mark. “You will be with our maintenance people all day. We need to find out what we can do about this hot-water situation. Johnny Boy will take good care of you.”

Billie’s snapped up to Frank’s, a silent conversation between the two. She didn’t trust them to be alone with Mark. Not one bit.

“It’s fine,” Mark said looking at his two siblings. “I’ll be fine.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Billie tried her best not to roll her eyes at him. She covertly would have to remember to make a shiv or something for Mark to carry around in case someone tried to fuck with him. Men and women no longer existed in the apocalypse. Just savages.

She would never hurt anyone in anger or to intentionally inflict pain, but on the other hand she had no problem protecting her family. That’s why she was so cross with Frank when he killed those three thieves last night. They didn’t deserve to die because they were no longer a threat. But she knew Frank saw things differently.

“Now,” Negan said clapping his hands once and rubbing them together like a genie about to grant a wish. “Frankie and little miss thang can come with me. Skinny Minnie Mark can stay here. Johnny is gonna come get you when he’s ready.”

Billie looked apprehensively at Frank. She didn’t like separating. Hell, they barely separated since the world ended. The only time they left was when they’d go scavenging, and that was only once a month.

“Oh, don’t look so glum, dolly,” Negan said putting a hand on her back for which she shook off. “Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch will be fine. They’re all just a bunch of innocent nerds. They wouldn’t try nothin’.”

Billie only gave her brother a curt nod before she and Frank raised from their seats and followed Negan outside.

Once outside, they rounded the corner of the door to see a table set up with various guns and ammunition. Behind the fence there were multiple biters that had been hit with neon green paintballs, dotting the large crowd of zombies. 

Clearly, this was a target practice.

Ten to twelve Saviours were huddled around it to see the new people to join the ranks. Negan strode up confidently and motioned for Frank to go ahead and start shooting.

Frank lifted one of the standard issue rifles, loaded it, and shot each paint covered zombie exactly between the eyes. He didn’t smile nor comment, Billie knew he wasn’t doing this for any reason other than getting it over with. He wasn’t as bawdy and cocky as Negan. 

When it was Billie’s turn she did the same. Almost hit all of them square between the eyes except two. She could feel Frank’s glower when she missed. It wasn’t like she had never done this before and according to Frank, mediocrity was not an option. Ever.

Even though she was a pilot, her brother trained her religiously with guns and other forms of attack so she could survive the new world. She hadn’t held a gun since her basic training years before the world ended. When she was on the road and in the bunker with Frank, she practised almost an hour a day. She didn’t love it, but she was glad when Frank said that she had progressed exponentially since her first time. Thanks to Frank she felt she was more capable than most of these idiots he called Saviours.

 _Saviours,_ she thought. _Such a stupid fucking title. Reminds me of some video game Resident Evil shit._

“You see that?!” Negan shouted to his men. “That is how you motherfuckers should be shooting! Instead I catch you assholes playing grab ass at night rather than training for this shit!”

He jabbed his bat in the face of man whose right side of his face was all mangled up. Billie wondered how that happened, but after taking one good look at how he was looking at Negan, she could’ve guessed.

“From now on,” Negan continued. “You will practise shooting _at least_ an hour a day on top of your regular shit! I want you to be at least half as good as these two.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said looking less than enthused.

Negan looked directly at Frank before he spoke. “You guys don’t need to work for points, you will both be Saviours. You will be Simon’s right-hand man. Simon says, you do, got it?”

Frank nodded and Billie saw the 80’s style porn moustache step forward. She could practically hear Frank roll his eyes at the prospect of being a lap dog. She also wanted to giggle that his commanding officer was a man who looked like he hadn’t seen battle in quite some time Frank always hated the old men with stolen valour who pretended they still mattered. It was actually so funny she stifled a giggle.

“And you,” Negan said moving to gaze at Billie with a grin, clearly seeing she as trying not to laugh. “You will be put on wall patrol, to start off with. We’ll find a new spot for you once I get to know you better. And when we go on runs, you’re with me. It’ll be… nice having a good shot watching my fine ass, don’t you think?”

Before she could answer, Frank interrupted. “If my sister is leaving the property than so am I – ”

“– Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?!” Negan yelled stepping into Frank’s face. “This is _my_ house. And I say what goes, you don’t like it? I’ll put you on the fucking wall!” he pointed to the biters that were tied to the chain link fence. From the looks of it, many of them used to be Saviours or other members of their community. Just based on how they were dressed.

Billie decided to pipe up. Her brother was smart in a lot of ways, but he could get irrational when it came to his family.

“Frank, I’ll be fine. _We_ will be fine.”

“Bill…”

“Frank,” she said seriously. “I got _it_.”

The looked she gave him made him see reason. He knew she always had a weapon on her person, she knew he was confident enough in his lessons. If Negan tried anything, she would stab him in the neck inconspicuously and swiftly like they practiced. She was fine if she didn’t have to use her bare hands to kill someone. She never wanted to do that again.

“Wonderful,” Negan said dryly rolling his eyes. “Simon, go show the newbie the ropes while Billie Jean and I get more acquainted.”

Frank followed Simon and gave Billie a curt nod, silently telling her to be careful.

Once they left Negan began walking motioning her to follow. “So, pilot, eh? What’s that gig like?”

“Windy,” she retorted wryly.

He burst out laughing and clapped her on the back. “No shit! Well, you don’t have to worry about that shit here. This heat is dry as all hell and we barely ever get any wind.”

She didn’t respond.

“You know,” Negan continued. “I’m a member of the mile-high club. I know on commercial flights that shit is normal, but you ever seen anyone ever try that shit in a helicopter?”

“No.”

Negan sighed and stopped walking. He whipped around with his bat still on his shoulder. She had to duck so she didn’t accidently get whacked in the face with the barbed wire.

“You know something, sweets?” he huffed. “This little relationship will go a lot better if you weren’t so pissy. Loosen’ up a bit, eh? You’ll be here a while.”

 _That’s what you think,_ she thought.

She sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips regarding him lightly.

“No, sir. I have never seen two people fuck on an airborne helicopter because we were too busy saving people’s lives. One of my co-pilots did fuck a woman in the helicopter when it was on the ground while the base was closed. He was later discharged and pushed to a desk for breaking in in the middle of the night.”

A slow smile spread across Negan’s face as he stared at her. She realized this was most she said to him since she got here.

Negan laughed and raised his bat to lean on it against the ground. “You are _so_ spunky. I just love it!”

She raised an eyebrow waiting for him to go on another tangent, this guy seemed incapable of shutting up.

He leered in so he was inches away from her face. He seemed to have no knowledge of personal space. “I bet you wished you were on the receiving end of that romp in the helicopter, weren’t ya, little girl?”

“No. I make it my preference not to have sex with fat men.”

Negan burst out laughing and she couldn’t help the small smile that came to her face as well. His snickering was somewhat infectious. Somewhat. Especially when he was staring at her with those warm brown eyes.

“There ya fuckin’ go!” he exclaimed swatting her arm. “Loosen’ up, get jiggy with it.”

He leaned and whispered in her ear, “It’s a good thing I’m not fat then, huh?”

She sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day.

“I would like to do wall duty now,” she responded monotonously.

**XXXX**

Billie enjoyed wall duty. It was nice to be wanted and respected so quickly. 

When the men first saw her, she knew what they saw. She knew from years of being surrounded by males in the military. They would see her long dark hair in two French braids, her big green eyes, and high cheek bones and would assume she was a piece of ass for them. They would see tits and immediately act like rabid dogs. Her father always taught her to be on the lookout for creeps and this was no exception. However, it didn’t take long for her to show them up with her knowledge. After a few days the sideways comments and degrading glares ceased to be heard.

She barely saw Negan for the last week as she was avoiding him. Anytime she even thought she saw leather she walked the other direction of the perimeter, or she suddenly needed to clean her sniper, or she would need a bathroom break.

He was coming and going so often she only got a few glimpses of him in the morning and sometimes late at night. That was fine by her, she was making friends with a few of the men and was more than happy to stay.

Mark loved working in bettering the Sanctuary. Billie was happy that he was finally finding where he fit in. It made her proud and happy that he was always in such a good mood without the help of weed or alcohol. He wasn’t an addict or anything, he just always liked partying with his nerd friends.

Frank was cautiously optimistic. Billie learned that Simon actually wasn’t half bad. He was a commanding officer before the world ended, so he knew how to get shit done. The two got along well enough, even though Frank thought he was a Negan wannabe.

The three of them decided that this was best for them now. They would decide a month into their duties if they would stay permanently. That was the nice thing about her siblings, they always held democracy high on their priorities.

Billie didn’t care either way, but she would still never take her guard down when walking the empty halls. She liked the Sanctuary, but she didn’t trust them to keep her safe from the evils _inside_ the walls, rather than just outside.

“Hey, Bill,” Dwight said jogging to catch up to her in hallway as she was relieved of her duty today.

She smiled at the deformed man. She liked Dwight, even though Negan seemed to hate him. She thought he was sweet. Albeit a wee bit shy, once he cracked out of his shell, he was a quite funny. She liked his dry, dark humor. It matched her own.

“When did you get in?” she asked looking over her shoulder to see if any other Saviours were following him.

“Just now, Führer Negan let me off,” he said dryly.

She laughed at his secret nickname for their boss. “Yeah, well that’s good. You look like shit. You need rest.”

He shrugged and motioned to the big double doors approaching. “You mind if I get some food with you?” he asked meekly.

“Not at all. I think Mark gets off now, and Frank should be done soon too. I usually wait for them,” she replied easily.

When they finally got their plates and sat down, Mark was already waiting, picking at his vegetables like he always did. 

Dwight had met the two before. Mark liked him, Frank did not. Frank called him a scrawny little spit fuck behind his back. He said he would never be able to defend himself outside the walls without a leader to follow. He called him pathetic. Billie would usually just roll her eyes at that. Sometimes her brother could be mean like that.

“How’s the wall?” Dwight asked pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Good! I like the guys up there. It’s way less intense than being around Negan all the time,” she said with a shutter.

Dwight chuckled darkly a took a swig of water. “You’re telling me. But don’t get too comfortable. He’ll start putting you on runs like the rest of us. Usually isn’t too bad though. He usually has us rotating from wall to run, just so we don’t get burned out.”

“I never see you on the wall?” she asked looked at him confusedly.

He shrugged looking less than concerned. “I got longer shifts.”

Billie heard about Negan’s wives. He had five of them for Christ sake, one of them being Dwight’s wife. She wasn’t disgusted that they paraded around in heels and dresses like high-paid escorts. She figured all people, women included, had their strengths to play to. Manipulation through sex was theirs. In any case, she was impressed. She would never be able to do that. She was far to boyish with her looks and far too impatient with her temper to pretend to like someone she didn’t.

“Besides,” Dwight said quietly. “I think he likes havin’ me around. I think he gets off on watching me do shit for him,” he joked.

“Maybe he just gets off on seeing a ‘ _sweet little thing run around my compound_ ,” she said, mimicking his voice lowly.

Dwight groaned and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Maybe he’ll ask you to marry him and start a harem of men next,” Mark joined in laughing.

“Yeah? And what would you be? His side piece?” Dwight countered to Mark.

All three groaned and laughed together. She liked that about Dwight, he could take a joke as well as fire one back. She had to stiffen her giggles with her hand so she didn’t make a scene. The thought of her brother, Dwight, and Negan in a thrapple was hilarious and disgusting at the same time.

“You guys are such assholes,” Mark said grinning from ear to ear.

She was so caught up in their laughing that she didn’t hear the cafeteria fall to a silence. She looked up and saw Negan glaring daggers at them. Simon was standing right next to him with Frank, giving her a look of warning. 

Dwight, Mark, and Billie all scrambled out of their seats to kneel. She hoped he didn’t come over here. She was having such a nice time in her new routine and didn’t need him coming in here and ruining it. 

Negan was dressed in his usual leather jacket, red scarf and baseball bat. Her brother was wearing his black cargo pants and t-shirt, nothing new per sae, just washed. She thought they looked odd standing next to each other. One looked like a biker and the other looked like a tight ass lieutenant. 

Negan whispered something to Simon, causing him to take Frank to the upper level where Negan would normally take his food to look down upon his congregation. He then began walking over to their table.

“As you were!” Negan yelled causing everyone to sit back down and finish their meals in hushed whispers.

“I’m done,” she said quickly making a move to stand.

She actually wasn’t done; she just didn’t want to speak to Negan right now, not when he was clearly walking to their table. She had done well at not attracting attention to herself in avoiding him. She didn’t want today to break that streak.

“Sit down,” Negan boomed when she turned. He pointed his bat at her and she quickly obeyed.

“So what’s this here, Dwighty-Poo?” he asked gesturing to the table. “You finally made some new friends at school?”

He leaned his hands on the table with the tip of his bat closest to Dwight. It was still wet and dripping on the floor and Dwight’s jean covered leg, indicating he used it recently.

“Uh… Yeah… I guess so…” he answered lamely.

Negan snorted and sat down next to Billie like he did her first day at the Sanctuary. “You know he’s got a wife up there that keeps me nice and cozy, right?”

“I was made aware, yes,” she said staring at her plate.

Negan chuckled and slung his arm over her shoulder and pulled her so close she could hear his heartbeat. When she tried to pull away, he just clenched harder. Her skin felt like it was crawling. She hadn’t been touched by anyone but her brothers and attackers in years. She hated this feeling even more because she knew throwing him on his ass in public would warrant her death. Or worse, the iron. 

“You also know this pussy still bows down to me, right? Even though I get to plough his woman every night. Kind of pathetic don’t you think?” Negan asked loud enough for everyone to hear.

 _The only person I think is pathetic is you_ , she wanted to say.

“Right,” was what she muttered instead.

He looked between her and Dwight and back again before he burst out into his insufferable laugh again. “Wait, Dwight. Were you tryin’ to get into this one’s pants?” he asked motioning to Billie.

Billie felt her ears grow red at Dwight’s unconvincing, ‘no.’

This just caused Negan to laugh even harder.

“You hear that, Marky? This walking eye-sore wants to become bed buddies with your little sister!” he cried to Mark. “You gonna let that happen?”

Mark shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable.

“Big sister, actually,” he corrected.

Billie couldn’t help but grin at his response. Leave it to Mark to find an error and correct regardless of who he was talking to. Him being a smart ass always made her smile.

“And she can handle herself,” he finally mumbled.

“I _bet_ she can,” Negan said with his lips by her ear. She could feel his gaze on her so she just continued to stare at her plate, waiting for him to get bored of her non-answers so he could go harass someone else.

“Which is why she’s going on the next run!” he announced to their table. He stood and grabbed his bat from the tabletop.

He braced one hand on the back of her chair and one on the table and crouched down, trapping her. “We leave tomorrow around 8:00AM. Be ready or I’ll be forced to drag your tiny ass outta bed, honey. Unless, you want a wake up call?”

“No thank-you, _sir_. I’ll be there.,” she replied again monotonously.

He sighed in disappointment that she wasn’t playing along with his stupid little games. But she didn’t care. She figured if he kept leering at her, Frank would want to leave sooner rather than later. Frank hated it when people would hit on her, but he knew she could handle herself just fine.

“Walk me out, baby. I gotta fill you in on some shit,” he asked breezily, already turning a strutting away form the table.

She mouthed an, ‘I’m sorry,’ to Dwight who only shrugged in response.

She struggled to keep up with his long strides, he was probably a foot and a half taller than her. She saw Frank looked like he wanted to punch something, but she gave him the universal signal for ‘stand down.’ They couldn’t risk him getting hurt all because Negan liked to annoy everyone.

They walked in silence as he led her up the stairs. She didn’t know what he had up his sleeve and she was too nervous to ask, so she stayed quiet. They finally reached the top floor in what looked like his office. He motioned for her to sit on the opposite side as he sauntered to the filing cabinet.

He pulled out a bottle of bourbon with two glasses. He filled each with the amber liquid silently before handing it to her. She didn’t dare refuse the offering in fear he might lash out. She wasn’t worried for her safety, no. She was worried that if he attacked and she was hurt, Frank would throw a conniption.

“Thank-you, sir,” she said taking the glass careful not to touch his fingers.

“Cut the sir, bullshit,” he grumbled while plopping into the seat opposite her. “This isn’t the Navy and unless you’re calling me that in bed, it’s condescending.”

She tried not to smile in her realization that he caught on to her little game. She called him sir out of irony. She and Mark both did. They thought the whole structure of the Sanctuary was hilarious because everyone took it so seriously. That was thing about the two of them, they left the humorless and seriousness to Frank.

Negan took a deep pull of the drink and stared at her. She looked anywhere but his face. She didn’t like how intense he was all the time. Even her own brother wasn’t this bad.

“I’ve heard nothing but the men sing your family’s fucking praises for the past three weeks you’ve been here,” he said after five minutes of silence. “All three of yous.”

She nodded and gave him a tight-lipped polite smile.

“Simon tells me your brother could replace half the guys that can’t figure their shit out. Maintenance guys said Mark figured out how to rewire all the electrical so when it floods, we wont be out of juice throughout the building,” he said.

She nodded and gave him another tight-lipped polite smile.

He leaned forward with his elbows resting on the table and regarded her with a cocked head.

“Guys on the wall said you spotted a weak spot in my fence. Made sure it was cleaned up before too many got through. Also said you’re a better shot than most of ‘em. You shot the one just before it killed Arat. She said she’s never seen anyone move so fast. One moment you were on the roof shooting walkers, the next you were on the ground, pulling her up and killing anything in your path. She said you probably could’ve taken on the herd you were so quiet and fast.”

Right when she was about to nod again, he jabbed a finger at her. “Use your fucking words, doll face. I’m getting really tired of this mute bullshit.”

She cleared her throat delicately and looked down into the amber liquid.

“Thanks. They’re very nice and it was my pleasure,” she answered vaguely. 

He snorted and took another swig of his whiskey. He clearly wasn’t happy with her vague answers and formal attitude.

 _Good_ , she thought. _It’s going to be fun annoying him until we leave this hellhole._

“We’re going to another community tomorrow. Bright and fucking early. You will ride with me, you will stand right next to me, I want you as my fucking shadow. I tell you to shoot someone, you shoot them,” he finished. “It all pans out, I’m going to add you as my new bodyguard when leaving this fucking place. My last one got his ass bitten.”

“Why are we going to another community?” she asked.

“AH! She fucking speaks!” he said raising his hands over his head in victory with a big smile. “Great question, doll! We’re just doing a house call. Nothing too crazy should happen. Unless those cunts decide to try something cute. But regardless, I’ll need ya there as my special little lady.”

He down at her glass in irritation. He pointed at her tumbler. “Drink. That’s good shit.”

She nodded and took a sip of the bourbon. She didn’t know good bourbon from bad bourbon, she didn’t really think such a thing existed anymore. It was just whatever people could get their hands on at this point. She was surprised she didn’t hate it. She was more of a tequila or wine fan. She supposed that’s what came with having a Puerto Rican father and a Italian mother.

“I just need you there in case shit hits the fan. Preferably someone with a good shot to take down as many of those fuckers as we can get,” he finished. “Might be there two days? Three, tops.”

“Sounds like a good plan, sir – er… I mean, Negan,” she said nodding.

It was not a _good_ plan. He was fighting like a child with other communities. Did he really think they weren’t going to retaliate at some point? Did he really think resources were best spent on guns and fighting when they could expel that energy into find food and making this place somewhat liveable? Did he even care?

And what was with the jacket? It was summer _in Virginia_. How the fuck was he not sweating through his socks at this point?

He regarded her with narrowed eyes. She could tell her ambiguous insolence was annoying him and it was entertaining her to say the least.

“So, tell me,” Negan said after a few moments of silence. “You and Dwight… Are you fucking him?”

She almost choked on her next sip before she could answer.

“No,” her mental armour cracking a wee bit. 

He leaned forward and put his glass on the table grinning from ear to ear. “You two sure looked awfully cozy together, giggling in the corner.”

“My brother was there, too,” she scoffed. “I seriously doubt if I was fucking Dwight that I would be openly flirting with him in front of Mark.”

He leaned back and smirked at her. He was trying to push her buttons and he was becoming successful.

“I don’t know what your kink is, doll. I have to say I am a little heartbroken that you don’t like laughing with me like you do with Mr. Harvey Dent over there,” he said giving an overzealous pout.

“Who?” she asked.

“Harvey Dent, Two-face.”

When she still didn’t know who he was he snorted. “You know? The villain from Batman? They called him two-face. Half his face was burned off?”

“You mean like how you burned off Dwight’s?” she countered sassily. “Is that where you came up with the punishment? From a comic book?”

Negan grinned menacingly and wagged his finger at her like a parent scolding a child. “Careful how you speak to me, honey. You’re already on thin ice for giving that weasel your time of day.”

Billie wanted to roll her eyes. He didn’t like when she was being professional, and he didn’t like when she was snappy. So there was no winning with him. Something then came to a realization for her.

“You’re telling me I’m in trouble for being friends with someone here?” she asked incredulously.

Negan snorted and waved off her accusation. “You can be friends with anyone you like, doll. It’s just a wee bit irksome that you even like him. Especially since I’ve been so nice to you.” 

“He and I just get along. That’s all.”

He was deliberating what she was saying, his fingers in his salt and pepper beard.

“And I don’t prefer anyone’s company. I’m just trying to get through the day’s here,” she quickly added. 

She didn’t want him thinking she liked either of them. The last thing she needed was for Frank to kill their faithful leader for trying to get into bed with his little sister.

Frank was always pretty protective, even before the apocalypse. It took him almost a full two years to warm up to Ethan, and they dated for 6 before he cheated on her with her best friend. God, that felt like a lifetime ago. She couldn’t believe how much the world had gone to shit since then.

Negan considered her for a moment before he broke out into a softer smile.

“You into that?” he said motioning to his cheek. “You into that fuckin’ mangled up, burn victim look? I know some women like that. Makes them give into their nurturing instincts and all that Freudian bullshit. His face looks like a piece of plasticky cheese that melted in a fuckin’ toaster oven. Now, I don’t know what a woman thinks, but I see that, and I think, _yuck_. Maybe it’s just cause I know Dwight and how much of a pussy he is…”

He blathered on _forever_. It seemed like this man didn’t know when the hell to shut up. It seemed he never ran out of energy to just talk and talk and talk and talk…

“Is there anything else you need from me _in regards_ to tomorrow?” she asked in the politest voice she could muster. She was done with these games and she didn’t need to explain her personal life anyone. Let alone Negan.

Negan snorted and downed the rest of his drink. She had barely touched hers.

“Oh, well excuse the fucking shit out of me. Am I keeping you from some important engagement that needs your attendance? Am I fuckin’ boring you?”

“No, you’re not boring me,” she answered honestly while putting her full glass on the table. She wasn’t bored, she was annoyed. 

“But I did promise my brother I’d help him out with some stuff tonight.”

Negan took her glass and began sipping from it. “Help with what?”

“I… er… just some stuff. Boring really.”

She didn’t want to tell him that she and Mark were regularly getting drunk in the basement while playing cards or watching him make blueprints. They used their combined points to buy a bottle every week so they could just chill out without Frank’s disapproving glare or the Saviour’s watchful eyes. She and Mark used to get drunk together as teenagers. Well, that was until she found boys and he found weed.

Sometimes the other maintenance guys would join. Mark seemed to be getting along with them greatly, and she liked them as well. They were like Mark, calm, cool, and total burn outs. It was the only time she could let her guard down and just hang out in a place that wasn’t her room.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, keeping secrets from your almighty leader isn’t a good idea, Billie Willie,” he scolded dangerously.

She winced at the nickname and finally looked up at him under her lashes. “He just wanted to hang out tonight. That’s all. I was just going to help him with some blueprints. Measuring rooms and stuff takes two people.”

It was kind of true. She did have to climb a scaffolding the other day to reach the roof to measure something for Mark. She just never told him the part about the alcohol… and that they only did that once. For the most part they just got drunk and played Uno.

“Frank doesn’t get an invite?” he asked grinning from ear to ear.

“He’s usually too busy…”

“Uh-huh,” he said clearly not believing her. “Well, by all means. Scoot on, girlie. Don’t want to keep Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch waiting.”

Her aluminum chair scraped loudly across the floor as she stood. He blatantly looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on her chest for a few minutes too long. When she folded her arms and glared at him, he laughed in response, grinning like a cat that caught the canary.

“Couldn’t help myself, doll. You look good enough to eat in that tight little shirt you’re wearin’.”

She rolled her eyes and turned for the door. No doubt he was looking at her ass because he whistled lowly in appreciation.

“Oh and sweetheart?”

Her hand was on the door as she looked over her shoulder.

“Next time you wanna get shitfaced with your little brother, make sure you do it in your room. These walls sure can carry sound, and I got ears _and_ eyes everywhere.”

Billie practically ran from the room as Negan’s maniacal laugh echoed through the dark halls.


	3. Chapter 3

Negan was waltzing down the corridors whistling happily. He was delighted after his little meeting with Billie. She was a spitfire and was fond of talking to her.

Last week he got some of the men to watch her and the other one while Simon kept a good watch on Frank. It was apparent these three new what they were doing. All the men said they barely had to teach them anything, they already distinguished everything to comprehend about defense and offence.

Well, maybe expect Mark. He knew everything to do with building though. He even gave Johnny some ideas to better the safety of the Sanctuary. Even had some solar panels to heat up their water coming their way if everything panned out.

He learned that Frank was a solider through and through. He valued his family above all else and couldn’t be persuaded otherwise. Simon really liked him, said he was smart in infantry and had more knowledge about different tactics then even Simon.

Billie, however, she was still a wee bit of mystery. She was quiet. His men only said that she pipped up when someone was speaking to her directly or she argued, which was rare.

He barely saw her. Anytime he looked for her it seemed she was either walking away or had some other duty. Negan could _swear_ she was avoiding him, but she was always busy with other things.

Last week one of the side gates busted open a walker had got a hold of Arat. Before anyone could even blink, Billie shot the monster three times in the head, the bullet whizzing by inches away from Arat’s skull. She then wordlessly proceeded to help put the gate back together, all the while killing any walker that came within ten feet. She didn’t to a celebratory dance or jig either, she just shrugged and said they needed to move before more walkers got in.

She didn’t hang around with others too much, just her brothers and just a few of the other men. None of which said she was too keen on speaking about herself unless it was to make a joke. He liked that. He found out her humor was the only thing that kept the men from thinking she a bitch because she was so quiet.

She did, however, have frequent conversations with Dwight. His little moles told him that Dwight was constantly following her and coming up with excuses to talk to her. Maybe his little buddy was finally moving on from Sherry, but Negan doubted it. If he did he would’ve left the Sanctuary by now.

And then, one fateful night, he finally got a small peek into Billie’s soul. One of the men said she was drinking with her brother that evening in the basement, which wasn’t against the rules, necessarily. But he still didn’t like people wandering around the property after hours.

When he heard this he grabbed Lucille and told the Saviour to go to bed. He stood by the basement door and listened to their drunken giggles and laughter coming from the steps below. He leaned against the wall to he could snoop on their conversation.

“I would kill for some cheezies right now,” he heard Mark say.

“Ugh, fuck cheezies. I want a cigarette and a bottle of wine. Remember when we used to go to the CVS and do that before parties?” Billie asked. “God, that was forever ago.”

Mark snorted and Negan heard the shuffling of footsteps. “Yeah, dad beat the living shit out of us for leaving.”

“No,” she countered. “He beat the shit out of us because he always caught _you_ with at least a gram of weed on you at like, every party we came home from.”

He heard Mark laugh once. “Yeah, _fuck_ … I miss being high. Probably never going to get that chance again…”

“Good times,” she replied dryly. “Here, gimmie a refill, I’m drinking my problems away. Ow! Fuck, Mark! Watch it! How you’ve survived the apocalypse is beyond me.”

“Sorry,” he said. “You know you could get people to like you more if you actually _talked_ to people for a change. Did you know that it’s scientifically proven to make you happier if you smile?”

“Did you know that if you don’t shut up with the weird facts, I’ll tell Frank what _really_ happened with Nina Carter?” she countered.

“You are such a bitch,” he grumbled while chuckling.

She giggled in response.

Negan liked these little exchanges these two had. It seemed the only apparent time she let her guard down was with her brothers. He wondered if she ever really let her hair down and just had fun without her family. He waited there for a few more minutes before he finally yawned and went to bed. They were mostly making fun of each other and catching up on old stories of people that were probably dead now. He felt a little intrusive.

He hated that when she was with others, she carried this cool, breezy facade. She seemed more relatable rather than a working robot that only said ‘ _yes, sir_ ,’ and ‘ _no, sir_.’

That was last week. Now he was going to get to know her a bit better because he was going to be in a car alone with her.

He opened the double doors to the front entrance leading outside with a wide grin. The sun was warm, it reeked of decay and death, and all his Saviours were already almost finished packing.

He scanned the crowd and saw Billie chatting with Arat. Both women seemingly getting along as Billie put her hand on the other woman’s arm affectionately. Arat was a hard ass, so it always surprised Negan when she even gave a glimmer of a smile like she was now. She must’ve warmed up to Billie after she saved her ass.

He waited for Arat to leave before he moseyed on over. Billie was watching the dead one’s claw and moan on the other side of the fence.

“Hello,” she said before he had a chance to reach her.

“Christ! You got Spidey sense’s or something?” he asked standing next to her. “How’d you know it was me?”

She shrugged and gave him that goddamned annoying smile that wasn’t really a smile. It was the type of smile a waitress gives you when she’s really trying to say, ‘go fuck yourself,’ but can’t because she’s at work.

“Look,” he snapped. “If you want to be a part of this community then you’re going to have to play nice. This cold shoulder shit is gettin’ real old, real fast, honey.”

She looked at the cadaver and cocked her head.

“You ever wonder what their life was like before the world ended?” she asked motioning to the corpse.

“What the fuck kind of question is that?”

She shrugged. “Just making conversation.”

He sighed. This girl was weird.

First, she wouldn’t say anything at all, and then when he finally got something out of her, it was on some weird mystical ‘what if’ situation.

_Fucking broads._

She suddenly turned her heel to make her way to the other men wordlessly. Negan almost saw red when she veered without acknowledging him at all. He hated being ignored and she was exceedingly good at it. She was also exceedingly good at making him feel like he was just another man and not her fearless leader.

“Stop!” he barked. She turned around and looked at him with wide eyes.

He motioned for her to come forward with his forefinger. He waited until she was close enough to him before he spoke. “I’m not just some fuckin asshole playing circle jerk here. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

She seemed surprised about his outburst and a half step backwards. Not in fear though, it looked more like… preparation. Like she was ready for him to attack her.

“And you know I’ll smash your fucking head in with Lucille if you so much as talk back to me, right?”

She nodded quickly. She still didn’t look scared though. She just looked… accepting.

He took another long stride to get in her face. “Then what the fuck is wrong with you? You’re acting like little miss blasé. Most guys _want_ to leave the compound because wall duty gets so fucking boring.”

Her eyes snapped up at him in surprise. “Oh! No, no. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I want to come. I _do_ want to leave,” she clarified.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You have an odd, very bitchy way of showing it,” he snapped.

She huffed before she rubbed her face tiredly, her dirty fingers dug into the sockets. “I’m sorry. I’m used to the way my brother does things. I guess I’m just not used to interacting with people that aren’t him. Must be rusty or something. He usually doesn’t… uh… nevermind. Apologies, sir – er… I mean… Negan…” 

“That’s better.” He grinned back at her. “Name sounds good on your lips, honey.”

She gave him a tight-lipped smile but just looked back to the decaying corpse in front of them. She was standing awkwardly, like she didn’t know what to do or say.

“How does your brother do things?” he asked quietly.

“He just… he just treats it like a mission in Iraq. He doesn’t like a lot of chit chat. He doesn’t really like any chit chat, which was always fine by me. He just wanted to get shit done. We just… didn’t have a lot of teasing or talking. We worked more like… uh… I don’t know. Maybe an engine? Sounds stupid, I know. But it was just the way he did things.”

Negan chuckled. He mistook her for being a stuck-up bitch, when in reality she just wanted to get all the tasks he assigned done as quickly and efficiently as she could. Her brother taught her well in survival and jack shit in people. 

It took him a second, but then Negan realized that the corpse she was staring at was the same man her brother killed when they first met. The man Negan initially thought was a part of their group. He could still see the piss stain on his crotch.

“He the one that tried to rape you?” Negan asked bluntly but softly.

“No,” she said seemingly unperturbed. “That was the man you killed. This one just liked our weapons. He took my favourite knife,” she said with somewhat of a pout. She turned to him briefly before speaking again. “Thanks for that by the way. Catching them. I know Frank was mad he didn’t get to kill the ringleader, but I appreciate it.” 

Negan nodded and studied her expression carefully. When she sensed his examining, she rolled her eyes and faced him looking tired, like she was explaining something to him that she had done 100 times before. 

“I’m fine. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last. So, there’s no point in crying over something you can’t change. It’s the way men are built now.”

Negan scoffed and actually took a step back in shock. “Men are not built like that, not all men anyways. And what the fuck do you mean this isn’t the first time?”

She turned back to the rotting corpse. “I’ve been on the road with my brothers long enough to have a few close calls, closer than where that asshole got. I was in the military before that, mostly all male. You don’t honestly think that a few of them didn’t get grabby in training, do you?”

When Negan didn’t say anything, she chuckled once and put her hand up, stopping his racing thoughts.

“Relax, I stopped them from actually doing anything. It’s just a life lesson.”

“What? Trust no men?” Negan scoffed skeptically at the cheesy line.

“No… Trust a _few_ ,” she said looking up at him. And then she took a step away from him, he didn’t realize he had gotten so close. “And I have my few and don’t need anymore.”

Negan raised his bat to rest on his shoulder. He understood exactly what she was saying. She didn’t trust him, or any of the Saviours for that matter.

Suddenly the horn on one of the trucks beeped loudly, indicating they were ready to go and interrupting Negan from asking more questions.

“Ready, honey?” he asked cocking her head towards the armoured cars. He would come back to this conversation. It was the most interesting one he had in a while. Way better than what his wives could come up with.

“Don’t call me that,” she grumbled. 

He escorted her to the car with his gloved hand on her lower back, which she shook off almost immediately.

“Alright, sweetie pie, no honey here.”

“That’s not much better,” she grumbled, swatting away his hand when he tried to ruffle her hair.

Out of no where, Frank flanked her other side, scaring the shit out of Negan. He was walking with a M6 propped over his shoulder and looking down at his sister as they walked. He resembled G.I. Joe so much Negan had to stifle a laugh.

If anyone were looking from a distance, it would look like he was bullying her or something. She stood almost a full foot shorter than her brother. She didn’t even to seem to register his stealthy entrance. It was like she was expecting him to come talk to her before she left.

“You got your weapons back from Simon?” he asked, strictly business with no concern for Negan’s presence.

She nodded.

“You remember what I told you about that glock, right? It sticks so you’re gonna have to keep the safety off and ready to go the whole time,” Frank reminded. “And those knives have just been sharpened. We don’t need a repeat Ohio situation.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“You remember what else I told you?” he asked.

“Yes, Frank,” she said exasperated.

Wordlessly, Frank yanked her into a tight hug. His big arms practically swallowed her tiny body with his big gun dangling from the strap on his arm.

Negan felt his eyebrows raise to his hairline. They didn’t seem like the type of family to be all touchy feely. He just assumed they were all business when it came to everything.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” he muttered into the top of her head. “Those fuckers come at you, you don’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Other people’s problems are not our concern. You lay them the fuck out if they come at you.”

She sighed and gave him a final squeeze. “I know.”

“I swear to God, Bill. If you do some of that daredevil mall shit again…” he said leaning back and looking at her with sheer brotherly protectiveness evident in his eyes.

“I said I got it, Frank,” she snapped.

When they released, he gave her a tender look before glancing up.

“And if anyone tries you at night, don’t be afraid to shove that knife in their balls,” he growled looking directly at Negan.

Negan burst out laughing and took a step towards the big meat head. He didn’t like what he was insinuating. This dog needed a tighter leash. He would have to inform Simon to keep him in check.

He tapped the tip of Lucille against the ape’s chest and spoke quietly so only he and Frank could hear. “I don’t think I like what you’re saying. She’s a grown ass lady, and she can do whatever, and _whoever_ she likes.”

With that he turned and ushered her to the car and opened the passenger door for her.

“Come on, Billie Jean. We got places to go and walkers to kill.”

She sighed and gave Frank a final glance before climbing in.

 _This is going to be fun,_ Negan thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Much to Negan’s dismay, the first hour of the drive was quiet and uneventful. She sat calmly and looked out the window, not saying a word to him. He tried several times to start up a conversation and she shot him down with one-worded answers and half-hazard shrugs. He thought about giving up, until they finally reached the highway and he got to drive faster than 40 clicks.

She suddenly turned to him and stared for a few seconds, wondering. She looked like she finally wanted to say something.

Negan chuckled. “Just ask whatever it is you wanna ask, sweets.”

“Can I role the window down?” she pled adorably. She seemed genuinely worried that he wouldn’t let her.

“Uh… yeah? Why wouldn’t you be able to?” he asked in confusion.

He was rewarded with her dazzling smile plastered across her face before she frantically began rolling down the window. Her two long braids whipped across her face smacked against the glass as the wind swept through the cab of the truck. 

He had yet to see her with her hair down, she always wore it in French braids. He casually wondered what it would feel like to let those braids out and see that gorgeous head of hair flow down. He imagined it was longer… it looked soft as shit. It probably felt better than his wives’ hair. It was always crunchy and caked with hair spray or mousse or god knows what else.

“Frank always said it wasn’t smart. Too much visibility from other people,” she answered bringing him out of his ponderings.

Negan chuckled and shook his head. “When you’re a Saviour, it doesn’t matter, sweets. It’s our job to scare the shit out of other people. You don’t gotta be worried.”

She covered her mouth while she yawned. “I think he just worries about snipers. Product of working in Bagdad. Lot’s of tall buildings and narrow streets.”

She still had that big beautiful smile on her face. She was so damn happy just to have the breeze in her hair. This was the most unguarded he ever seen her talk before.

He couldn’t believe the number of products and beauty shit he gave his wives and they still weren’t happy. He just let this girl wearing raggedy boy’s clothing role down a fucking window and she looked like she just found the pot of gold at the end of the fucking rainbow.

She took off her baseball cap and sunglasses so they wouldn’t fly away in the wind. Her incredibly long dark braids draped down her back inside the car while she closed her eyes and looked utterly content. She let her cheek rest on her arms and stick out the window like a dog.

“You part Pomeranian?” he snickered. 

“More like Doberman,” she retorted making Negan laugh again.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Negan couldn’t stand the silence anymore. He needed to get more out of this girl. He didn’t like not knowing who was guarding his back. Moreover, he just plainly wanted to hear her banter with him.

“What did your brother mean when he said, ‘daredevil mall shit’ back there?” he asked.

She slid her head back inside the cab and began rifling around her pack until she found her water.

“He just doesn’t like when I make stupid mistakes,” she said. As if that answered anything at all. 

“And what move warranted him to call you _daredevil_?” he pressed.

He knew what she was doing. She was intentionally not telling him anything so he wouldn’t know too much about her life. Negan could see that Frank was a military man and hid everything.

She took a long sip from her water before reluctantly providing an answer.

“I… uh… had an idea to ram a mall gate with a semi-truck back in Ohio. Walkers spilled out everywhere. Someone had been trapping them and putting them in the mall, so there were hundreds. I just thought we needed to get in to get supplies. It was stupid.”

Negan chuckled. “Fuck me, I probably would’ve done the same thing. How did Frank get you out of that one?”

Her head snapped up to him in annoyance. “I saved myself, thank you very much.”

“Alright, doll,” he said with an ogling smile enjoying the repartee. “Then how did you save yourself?”

She took another long gulp of her water before answering.

Negan enjoyed the curve of her exposed neck as she drained it. He futilely wondered what her reaction would be if he bit her on the smooth fleshy part by her shoulder.

“I climbed through the sunroof of the cab and up the fire escape on top of the mall. Disengaged a power line nearby and shimmied across the cables until I reached an area that was relatively walker-free… Climbing down the pole was the worst… lots of splinters,” she said trying her best not to brag. It was obvious that she was proud of herself but was too shy to show it outwardly.

“Frank wouldn’t have known if Mark didn’t rat me out,” she continued. “I think he was worried I would have a concussion or something from the crash. Turns out I was fine. But Frank stripped me of any more outings by myself and said I was stupid,” she finished. 

Negan burst out laughing. “Christ,” he said through his chuckling. “I could see your tiny little ass climbing the hydro lines like a fuckin’ monkey. Can’t believe he wouldn’t let you out after that. I would have. Shit’s hilarious.”

She chuckled along with him and yawned again. “I suppose it _was_ stupid,” she said quietly.

“Meh, I’ve seen my guys so far dumber shit for no good reason at all,” he said reaching across the cab and into the glove compartment in front of her. He gripped the flask of tequila and slammed the compartment, making her flinch. He could tell she was nervous, but he was used to it. Most people were nervous or shitting their pants in front of him. 

He uncapped it and took a swig. He saw her eyeing him and when he offered some, she, always so polite, said no thank you.

“So, you’re willing to drink with Skinny Minnie Markie, but not me? I’m hurt,” he said capping the flask and throwing it on the dash.

She shrugged. “Mark needs it more than me,” he mumbled so low that he wasn’t sure if heard correctly.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She shrugged again, which infuriated him. Right when Negan was about lecture her on using her fucking words she quickly explained, catching onto his anger before he started yelling.

“Mark hates feeling useless,” she said quickly. “In his old job he felt powerful because he was lead Engineer on some project that was supposed to be utilized for the Navy or something. Some weapon thing, I don’t know what it was. Since the world ended, he feels like he’s not useful anymore. So sometimes it’s a good distraction for the both of us to get loser drunk and play Uno.”

He thought about it for a minute. This family was getting more and more interesting.

“Well,” Negan said. “You can tell him he’s probably more useful than half the maintenance combined.” He looked back to her and quietly asked, “And what do you need to distract yourself from?”

She snorted jadedly and stared out the windshield. “Everything.”

Before he could inquire further, she perked up and looked over to him. “So, what are we doing on this visit?” changing the subject.

“We’re going to scare the piss out of them, so they know not to cross us.”

She looked at him with a cocked head, waiting for him to elaborate.

“Here’s the deal, toots,” he said finally getting down to brass tax. “We are going to take half their shit. After that, if we don’t fill up our trucks, we will scavenge for some more shit. We’re staying the night in Alexandria. Probably best because it’s a far fuckin’ drive. If we find enough, we might be back in two days.”

She nodded obediently. She looked perturbed when the mention of stealing from others came up but didn’t say anything. He wondered if her brother would feel the same. He looked like a cold son of a bitch.

“Any questions?” he asked.

“No.”

“Any concerns?”

“Nope.”

“Good,” he growled. “That’s the shit I like to hear.”

**XXXX**

When they finally made it to Alexandria Negan gave his usual bullshit song and dance with Rick.

“Open up, Rick the Prick! Daddy’s home and he needs a new pair of boots!” he yelled through the window.

Rick’s head appeared at the top of the gates, glaring at him from above. “Your early. We weren’t expecting you.”

Negan chuckled and heard Billie shift in her seat uncomfortably.

“Well, I don’t give two shits what you were _expecting_ , Ricky. Now you open that goddamn gate, or I’ll ram my fucking truck through like I did with my dick in your momma’s ass last night!”

Rick sighed and told him to wait. Good boy he was in not arguing.

He turned and couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction to his previous comment. Her nose was scrunched up in disgust and she looked like she wanted out of the truck.

“What is it, doll face? Do my words hurt your delicate virgin ears?”

She fiddled with her gun, thumbing with the safety in turning it on and off. “No,” she mumbled. “I just wasn’t prepared to hear about dicks in asses this early in the morning. Who is this Rick guy?”

“A pain in my fuckin’ ass. Come on, let’s get this shit show on the road.”

When they entered Rick was waiting with the dark-skinned lady with the sword. He always wondered what she did to get that fucking thing. It was an odd choice of weapon, but he supposed a baseball bat covered in barbed wire wasn’t much better.

Carl was standing next to her, looking like he wanted to murder him where he stood. That made him smile. He would love to see him try.

“We are here…” Negan began. “…For our shit. And I know I’m early, but I thought, hey! Why not? My boy Rick probably missed me anyway!”

“We don’t have enough supplies to fill what you need,” Rick replied shakily. “We need more time.”

Negan chuckled. “Well not to worry dear-o pal! We can take what you have, and we’ll chalk everything else as an IOU. How does that sound?”

He could feel Billie tense next to him. He looked to her and saw she was staring at something, or someone, in the distance. He also saw that the one named Maggie was eyeing between one of the houses and Billie. She looked nervous.

“You see something I don’t, doll?” he asked Billie with a smile.

She stared at Rick for a moment before answering.

“They’re hiding something back there,” she said confidently pointing to the house Maggie was just staring at.

“Re-he-heally?” he beamed. He turned back to Rick. “You got somethin’ to tell me Prick?”

Rick stayed silent. Daryl glared daggers at Billie. Maggie looked like she was going to throw up.

“Well then!” Negan said raising his arms above his head. “Since Rick is suddenly real quiet, I guess we all better play follow the leader! Rick? You mind playing leader in this instance? I know it’s hard for you, being spineless and all… But would ya, would ya? Just this one itty bitty time?”

Rick sighed heavily defeated. He waved them all to follow him.

Negan did his regular strut, absolutely tickled pink that they had caught him in the act. He looked over to Billie and saw her hawk-like gaze scan the surrounding walls. She apparently couldn’t be distracted by her surroundings, not like his men. She was task oriented.

When he opened the unmarked house Negan was shocked at the amount of guns, riffles, fucking swards, everything. Any kind of assault riffle or weapon you could think of was pilled high in that room. All the guns looked like they were thrown quickly and carelessly into the living room. They must’ve just come back from a run when Negan showed. He figured they were probably scrambling to hide them when he pulled up with Billie.

“Hot damn, girlie!” he said slinging an arm around Billie’s shoulders. “I knew I struck the lottery with your family, but I gotta say, this is like million-dollar matchmaker shit! Don’t you agree, Rick? A hot piece of ass that can actually do the work better than us boys. I gotta say, it’s a nice feeling when the hired help can do what their meant for.”

She didn’t respond nor acknowledge either of them. Neither did Rick.

“This is bullshit,” Carl growled behind them.

“Carl…” Rick began.

Carl ripped away from his father’s side a stomped in front of Negan, jabbing him in the chest with each word.

“You can’t just come in here and take everything! Other people need to survive too!”

Negan didn’t have enough time to react before Carl produced a knife from his belt and lunged. He felt the blade tickle his neck ever so slightly, missing it by about two centimeters. He suddenly felt someone shove him back, missing the second swipe of the knife.

When he got his wits about him, he saw that Billie had grabbed the kid and flipped him over onto his back while expertly knocking the knife out of his hand and into her own. She was kneeling with her knee pressing painfully hard into his chest. When he reached for one of the guns on the floor, she pointed her handgun directly at his face, making his fingers freeze around the rifle.

“That is _so_ _not_ an option,” she said calmly. “Drop it. I didn’t come here today to execute a child.”

When the kid didn’t move, she pressed the gun into his forehead harder and shoved her knee into his throat. “I. Said. _Drop. It.”_

He could feel his cock twitching with how good this broad was. She was so fucking sexy when she was holding that gun. He couldn’t believe his good fortune in finding her. He sure as shit wouldn’t let her, or her brothers go now. Far too valuable to have them missing from his little team.

She seemed completely focused on the task at hand and ignored everyone else, even through his laughing fit. 

“Carl!” Rick exclaimed. “Do as she says!”

The kid finally dropped it and Negan couldn’t help but start applauding.

Rick grabbed Carl and yanked him into his side protectively. While she rose to her feet calmly.

“Shit, y’all! How about a round of fuckin’ applause for the lovely Miss Billie Jean here?!” he exclaimed.

The Saviours started clapping while the Alexandrians stayed quiet.

Billie didn’t look flattered or humbled by the applause. If anything, she looked uncomfortable and annoyed. But Negan didn’t care, he liked this lady. She had sand, and that was hard to come by nowadays. Normally people faked it and pissed their pants when it was time to aunty up. She did the opposite. She flew under the radar and when it was time to shine, she delivered.

“Shit! I think I’m getting hard just watchin’ that shit! Do I have a fuckin’ team, Rick? Or do I have. A. Mother. Fuckin’. Team?!”

Rick just hugged his son a little harder while Carl scowled at him with pure loathing.

Negan turned to Billie and saw she was just as cold and guarded as she was before. Now, more than ever, did she resemble her older brother. Negan wasn’t sure if he liked it, having this hot tail looking like a cold war-battled soldier. He thought he liked it better when she was joking around in the car with him.

She still gave him a hard-on though.

“Alright,” he said saving that thought for later and finally addressing Carl. “Since your Daddy was so nice in playing follow the leader, I am going to let that shit slide. But don’t get me wrong, kiddo. I see that shit again and you’ll be laying six feet under.”

“Fuck you,” Carl spat.

“How fucking ever,” he said ignoring Carl and addressing Rick himself. “I gotta say I am disappointed that you tried to hide your little goodie bags from me, Rick. I thought we were friends.”

Rick swallowed and Negan took it upon himself to leave the house with everyone following him.

“Since you were caught in a fib, Rick, I think I’m going to have to stay the night and see what other little treat you tried hiding from me.”

He heard Daryl snort behind him in disbelief. Negan knew it would annoy the quiet one the most. The quiet ones were always the deadliest.

“And as punishment,” he said walking out of the house and forcing everyone to follow. “All your people can have a little campfire and weenie roast under the stars tonight.”

“You can’t be serious,” Maggie said. “We have children, we can’t be sleeping outside when – “

“ – Did I fucking ask your opinion? Did you just fucking speak to me?” Negan roared.

He pointed his bat at her menacingly before he spoke again. “You’re lucky I don’t lock the door and set this whole damned place on fire for lying to me. Has me thinkin’ too. Why on earth would you want all those guns if you weren’t planning to use them? I wonder who’d you use them on, too…? What was that plan? Hmm?”

Rick didn’t even have the balls to look him in the eyes after that. Figures. He was such a pussy it was almost embarrassing.

“Billie,” he barked. “Your bunking with me tonight. Dwight! You’re in the house next to us with Jason and Alex and Arat. The rest of you, pick a house and help yourselves! We may be here a while!”

Billie looked at him with wide eyes but didn’t say anything. She looked a wee bit nervous and she bit her plump bottom lip. Negan couldn’t help the wolfish grin that spread to his cheeks when he saw that. He wanted to know how those lips would look wrapped around his dick.

He also wondered if her mind went to the same filthy place that his did when he realized they would be sleeping under the same roof.


	5. Chapter 5

Billie sat on the porch looking out at the main street of town. She enjoyed the quiet that the little community brought. The Sanctuary was never quiet. There was always someone around. She often missed the isolation that came with life with her family where the only thing that could be heard was the groaning of walkers or her siblings squabbling.

Negan was inside doing god only knew what. She imagined he was plotting his next move, but she couldn’t bother herself to ask. She just wanted a few more moments of peace. At least this place reminded her of home.

Most of the Alexandrians were camping out closer to the fields so they didn’t have to hear the Saviours laughing and having fun while drinking all their liquor and eating all their food.

After Negan made his announcement, he had a meeting with Rick for which she was stationed outside the door with Dwight. They chatted a little bit, he made jokes to try and ease the situation.

He could probably feel her slight shame in literally taking food from another community’s mouths. Her father as well as Frank would be the type to say, ‘dog eat dog world. Suck it up.’ She just didn’t have it in her. She couldn’t help the tears that pricked her eyes but never shed as a small huddle of children walked passed her. None of this felt right, but she would forever follow orders. Well, at least Frank’s orders.

Before she left with Negan, Frank informed her that he knew all of Negan’s plans for their trip and proceeded to tell her everything so she would be prepared. Frank knew her best after all, and he knew she would never stand for this had she not been groomed prepped beforehand.

_“You have to do everything he says. Even if it means stealing. I know you don’t want to, but you need to,” Frank said in a hushed whisper in the hallway._

_“This is bullshit!” she growled. “It isn’t right! We did not sign up for stealing from other communities. Why can’t we just leave?”_

_“Elizabeth,” Frank scolded. She always hated it when he used her full name. It was the same thing their mother used to do when they spilled something or made a mess. “We can’t leave without a full exit strategy. You know this. Just play along, pretend you don’t know anything and just be a good little soldier for him. That’s what I’m doing. We’ll leave here soon... I promise.”_

_“This is exactly why we don’t stay in fucking communities, Frank,” she whispered. “They do nothing but take and take. They don’t give a shit about other people. There is no democracy when it comes to these fucking savages!”_

_“Bill,” he barked sternly. “This is how it is going to be. If you don’t want to be here, then leave. I won’t stop you. You can abandon your family, it’s always been your choice.”_

_She gasped at his proposal. She had to physically stop herself from spitting in his face. It was a low blow. Even for him. He was manipulating her to make her bend to his wishes. He was good at this, but she at least she was nastier._

_“Mom would be disgusted with you for this,” she hissed cruelly._

_He exhaled through his nose trying to control his temper. She knew it was a mean thing to say, but she didn’t care, not at this moment anyways._

_“She would rather us be alive and stealing than have our heads on spikes on the gates of the Sanctuary,” he snarled. “Just shut up for a change and do as you’re told.”_

He was right, of course. Frank was a lot of things, but she knew he cared for their family. Even if it meant hurting their feelings in the shorthand. He was always excellent at making difficult decisions and facing the brunt of the aftermath. She just hated that she was the one to actually see where all their food came from. She hated herself for doing this. For stealing from other communities’ mouths. 

She was ripped from her memory when she heard the neighbouring house’s screen door slam shut with a groan. She looked over and saw Dwight lighting a cigarette. He was holding a beer and obviously had another in the pocket of his jumper. He gave her a tiny wave before he sauntered down the steps and made his way to join her.

“This seat taken?” he asked nodding to the Adirondack chair beside her.

She shook her head and he plopped down next to her. He produced a beer from the inside of his hoody and placed it into her hands wordlessly.

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

She cracked it almost immediately and took three long pulls. She forgot how much she liked beer. Even if it was the watered-down cheap shit. It made her feel like she was 18 again and stealing from her father’s garage for a high school party.

 _You’re a hypocrite for drinking that. It belongs to someone else,_ she thought to herself.

She pushed that thought away as fast as she could. She liked Dwight. She really did. But she knew where his loyalties lied. She knew if she said anything, he could easily report it to Negan. Not that anything he did signified that yet, but she needed to air on the side of caution.

“So,” he said taking a drag from his cigarette. “How was your first day?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Fine. How was your day?”

He returned her shrug and took a pull form his beer too. “Can’t complain.”

“I would,” she retorted. “The way he speaks to you… I would have a lot of complaints.”

He shrugged again and leaned back in his chair. His dirty blonde hair went messy in the wind. “For the greater good. She’s protected when she’s with him. That’s all I give a shit about.”

Billie nodded. Obviously, he was speaking about Sherry. She honestly thought it was sweet that he was still trying to protect her. She thought it was chivalrous.

“Motherfucking Christ!” Negan yelled from inside.

Dwight craned his neck to see through the window what Negan was doing. Billie couldn’t care less.

“Is he making spaghetti?” Dwight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Billie lurched up from her chair in frustration. She didn’t want talk about Negan let alone see him right now. Not after she was forced to threaten a child. Her guilt was eating away at her right now and she was sick of it.

“Wanna go for a walk?” she asked Dwight. “My guard duty was over an hour ago and my ass hurts from sitting for so long.”

Dwight stubbed out his smoke on the armrest and nodded. “You want a roadie?” he asked nodding to her half-empty beer.

“God, yes.”

She followed him back into his house and he raided the liquor cabinet. He made them both stiff Tom Collins. She was ecstatic that he knew what they were. They were always her favourite for day drinking before the world ended.

They walked the streets and talked about nothing in particular. Bands and music mostly, some sports. She was shocked that he used to play rugby, just like she did. She told him about how when she was younger she collected vinyl’s of different rock bands. That was about the extent of the personal information she told him. They chatted very little about their life before the end of the world. She learned he was also was a guitar player as well, which she of course she found endearing. There was always a part of her that had a soft spot for musicians, probably because her father hated it.

“You think you’ll start hanging out more when we get back?” Dwight asked.

She gave him a quizzical look before kicking a can out of her way. “What do you mean?”

“Do you think you’ll come and join us for dinner and drink with us at night? All the Saviours are wondering why you only hang out with your brother. I thought maybe it was because they forgot to invite you or something. Which is stupid, I mean, they all like you.”

Truth be told she was invited several times, she just never showed. She wished she could just join in, but she didn’t want to get too comfortable with them. Not when she wasn’t planning on staying.

“Yeah,” she lied. “Sure I will.”

Maybe she’d stay for one beer with them.

“Good,” he said with a shy smile. “You’re fun, they might even let you take a seat at the poker table.”

“Ooh, well thank god I’m fun…” she said mockingly. “And the coveted poker table seat? Now… no, _now_ I feel special.”

He laughed and elbowed her lightly in ribs.

“Asshole,” he muttered.

When her glass was empty Dwight just poured in straight gin from the bottle he brought. They checked out the artillery, the mess hall, she glanced at the gardens but refused to step foot near them. She didn’t want to see their faces when she was clearly enjoying their space as well as alcohol.

She asked Dwight for a smoke and he handed her one and it for her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head on the first inhale. _God_ , she missed smoking. She didn’t do it since the apocalypse because it effected cardio so heavily. It would also piss off her brother to no end if he found out that she was a casual smoker.

By the time they got back it was dark and she was a wee bit buzzed. She wasn’t drunk, she refused to let her guard down that far. But she was feeling good and her mood had improved considerably.

She inwardly groaned when she saw Negan sitting on the porch with Lucille laid across his lap. He had stripped himself of his heavy jacket and was left in his white t-shirt. The porch light was on and he was glaring at them murderously. His eyes narrowed when he saw the cigarette in between her fingers and the gin bottle in Dwight’s hand.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Dwight muttered under his breath. “He looks like Sherry’s dad when I didn’t bring her back from prom after curfew.”

Despite Negan’s glare she could help but let out a tiny giggle. Which only made Negan get up and start thundering down the stairs.

“Well, well, welly, well, well,” Negan said as he approached the white fence and yanked it open to greet them. “Dwight! My man! I didn’t think you had the balls. Does this mean little Sherry doesn’t have to worry about you _leering_ at her all the time? You forgot about her, huh?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” he mumbled staring at the ground.

Negan chuckled, but the smile didn’t return to his eyes. “Looks to me that you outdid yourself. I mean, what kind of hot piece of ass like Billie Jean here would want a melted popsicle as a fuck buddy?”

Billie took another drag from her cigarette and wondered what her next move should be. She knew she would have to tread lightly as he already looked pissed. She didn’t know why, it’s not like he needed her here to watch him make spaghetti.

“I asked him to walk me,” Billie said finally coming to Dwight’s defense. “My shift ended, and I wanted to stretch my legs. Dwight here was nice enough to agree to accompany me. Is that alright, _sir_?”

She knew the sir comment would get him pissy. And she was right.

He looked like he wanted to throttle her. She knew he couldn’t say anything that could possibly make sense. He didn’t actually care that she was out with Dwight. He just wanted to keep Dwight miserable for some moronic reason. On top of that, it probably pissed him off that she wasn’t throwing herself at him like his wives or cowering in terror like the other women in the Sanctuary. 

“You think because you saved my ass that you can just do anything you want?” he asked angrily.

She sighed and blew out the smoke above their heads so it didn’t get in their faces.

“No, my shift was done and you told us to get settled. This is how I got settled.” She shrugged and waited for him to speak again. He was looking her up and down again before that blasted smile reared its annoying head.

“You asked him walk you?” Negan asked with an eyebrow raised. “You weren’t lying about that Doberman shit then, huh?”

She couldn’t help the smile that faintly stretched the corner of her lips. She wondered if it was the first time she saw a genuine smile on his lips as well.

“Nope,” she answered while taking one final drag from her cigarette and stomping out the ambers on the asphalt. “And I think it’s passed my bedtime. Thanks for the drink, Dwight. Negan, goodnight.”

With that she walked around them both only for Negan to tell Dwight to fuck off as he followed her up the steps and into their house.

 ** _Their_** _house,_ she thought. _Fucking hell. Might as well become wife number seven while you’re at it._

When she opened the door the smell of onions and basil wafted throughout the entire house. She looked to the table and saw two plates with a massive pot of spaghetti in the middle.

 _He made you dinner,_ she thought. _He made you fucking dinner and he’s been waiting for you to come home._

She had to stifle a laugh. She could not believe this is what he was doing the entire time he was in here. 

“I thought since you did such a might fine job tonight that I’d make you something to eat,” he said behind her. “But it sounds like Dwighty already beat me to it.”

She didn’t turn around to face him. Honestly, she felt bad for it, even if it was a ploy of some kind or another. “We didn’t,” she muttered lamely.

“When was the last time you ate?” he asked.

She had to think about it. She had an orange for breakfast, and a granola bar at lunch…

“Too long,” he surmised. “Come on doll, sit down. Eat.” He pushed the chair out for her and walked to the fridge.

She nodded and threw her baseball cap on the couch. She sat down with a huff and loaded her plate up with the delicious smelling concoction of meat and noodles. Negan placed a Bud Lite in front of her. 

“Thanks,” she said gratefully.

He watched as she shoveled food into her mouth with beady little eyes. She couldn’t help but notice the plate in front of him was dirty, yet he hadn’t eaten anything since she walked in.

“Aren’t you eating?” she asked feeling self conscious of having someone watch her so closely as she devoured her food.

“Already did,” he said peeling at the label of his beer thoughtfully. “What did little old Dwight have to say today?”

She shrugged. “Nothing to write home about.”

His eyes snapped to her and she suddenly felt three feet tall.

“I asked you a fucking question, Billie,” he growled. “I told you to be my shadow and you left to go out gallivanting across the daisy fields with Dwight. Just because you did good today does not mean you’re exempt from answering to _me_. I own you if you don’t recall.”

She gulped and started twirling the noodles around her fork. She knew he was truly angry. This wasn’t a show for everyone, this was real. She remembered the knives she had on her person and it made her feel safer. She thanked God she listened to Frank about that. He was always cautious.

“We talked about music, who our favourite bands were before the world ended. We talked some football… um… he said I should be more social... He invited me to their card game –”

“– what card game?” Negan bit.

She shrugged and tried to play it off as a flippant request from Dwight. She didn’t want to tell Negan that it looked like he was disappointed that she never attended the game. She also wasn’t sure if she would get anyone into trouble. She didn’t know if poker was allowed in the Sanctuary under Negan’s rule.

“Just some poker game some of the wall guards have. I’ve been invited a hundred times before, I was just to shy to go, I guess. I think he thinks I need to make a better effort to make friends.”

She assumed that would be enough for him, but he urged her to keep going. She rambled on as best she could in trying to remember all the key points they touched on. When she finished she took a huge bite of spaghetti so she didn’t have to keep talking.

“Well,” Negan mused. “Sounds like you had a ball on your little date,” he said with a ominous smile. “A whirlwind of adventure,” he added sarcastically. 

“Wasn’t a date,” she said with her mouth full.

Negan snorted at her and got up to get another beer. “Puh-lease, he was staring at you like you held the cure for cancer.”

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have anything to say. Dwight didn’t feel that way about her. He was just a lonely man looking for a friend that wasn’t trying to be like Negan.

“You guys fuck in the corn fields or something?” he snickered when he sat back down across from her. “Can’t imagine what that would be like… having his mangled face heaving and hoeing above you…” he gave a shudder at the notion.

He was trying to get a rise out of her. She knew this, but it still pissed her off.

“Look,” she snapped. “I don’t know what your obsession with Dwight and I is, but I don’t fuck married men. He misses his wife and he’s the first person I’ve talked to here who’s semi- _normal_ , besides my brothers. He’s a nice guy. So can you just lay the fuck _off_?”

“Oh,” Negan said sarcastically. “He’s a nice guy? Is that what you think? You know the shit he’s done?” Negan argued. “Plus, I told you to be fucking shadow. You left me here unguarded and unprotected.”

She didn’t mention the fact that he had told _everyone_ to take the night off, including her. She also didn’t mention that it was clear that they weren’t going to retaliate, not when he had so many men in the surrounding houses.

She didn’t think he would be too pleased about correcting him when his face was already turning red with anger. She shouldn’t have said anything. Her father always said her temper was her downfall. And in this moment, she understood this.

“I’m sorry, _Negan_ ,” she hissed, not sorry at all. “I shouldn’t have spoke to you like that. Next run, if there is a next run, I won’t leave.”

Negan’s eyebrows raised and he looked impressed with her little confession. He then chuckled, seemingly forgetting his sour mood, and leaned forward.

“Just don’t let it happen again, doll. And if it does, don’t risk getting the iron because of a slime like fuckin’ Dwight.”

She nodded and smiled just like she used to do as kid to get bullies to leave her alone.

“So now I’ve gotten two things outta you, honey,” he said giddily completely forgetting his angry posture. “You don’t fuck fatties and you don’t fuck married men. This is all good information. Although, I gotta say, if you ever want to break one of those rules, you know where to find me.”

She couldn’t help the exasperated laugh that echoed through the house. He was incorrigible.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said tiredly rubbing her eyes. “Can I go to bed now?”

“No,” he said with a shit eating grin. “I was nice enough to make you spaghetti. You can wait up and visit with me. It’s only 9:00 o’clock anyways.”

He nodded for her to join him in the living room as he dropped down on the couch.

“Can I at least shower and change?” she whined. She her clothes still clung to her skin from the sweat and dirt of loading trucks all day.

“Fine. But make it snappy, doll.”

Billie washed her body, but not her hair. An old habit she had from way back when. It was probably why her hair was so soft and not greasy even during an apocalypse. She had to admit it was probably the only thing she liked about her body. It was also probably the only girly thing about her that she still gave mild attention to.

She looked at herself in the fogged-up mirror. She always thought her thighs were too big and her arms were fat. Now, she could care less. There were more important things to worry about than how attractive you look. Especially since the only people she ever saw were her siblings.

Once she toweled off, she opted for her ex-boyfriend’s hoodie and shorts. She strapped a knife to her shorts, just in case. She took the braids out of her hair and let it flow freely down her back and over her elbows. Leaving them in gave her hair a slight wave that she didn’t completely hate.

When she came back to the couch Negan was reading a magazine with two full glasses of wine in front of him, the one closest to him half drunk.

She sat down furthest away from him on the couch. Her body curled up into a ball and leaning against the arm rest. She eyed the glass of wine and decided not to drink it, no matter how much she wanted to. She loved wine before the apocalypse. Her ex, Ethan, had even brought her to Nappa for a wine tour.

When her eyes landed on Negan he was unabashedly staring at her bare legs. His gaze finally made it up to hers and he grinned boyishly.

“Shit, doll,” he said reaching for her glass to hand it to her. “I think your brother’s going to have a hard fuckin’ time keepin’ you under lock and key with legs like those. Hot damn.”

“Thank you,” she said taking the glass from him. “For the wine I mean.”

Negan chuckled, completely understanding her connotation. She could tell he was assessing her as if he was trying to figure her out.

“So…” she said after he continued to stare without speaking. “What did you want to talk about?”

“We don’t have to talk,” he said scooting closer to her on the couch wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her.

“No thanks.”

Negan chuckled and shook his head. He probably was used to women throwing themselves at him rather than refusing his every gesture.

His eyes were glowing in the harsh lighting of the house. She could see every feature perfectly. His brown eyes had flecks of green and there was slight greying coming in at his temples. He wasn’t wearing his leather jacket, so she could see the outlines of his muscles under his shirt. She also saw a tattoo peaking out from the sleeve on his bicep. She wondered what he did in his life before the world ended. 

“What’s you favourite colour?” she blurted.

He grinned and perked up, clearly enjoying where she was headed. She needed to get her mind off his handsome facial features and lean build. She had to keep reminding herself that he had five wives.

“Orange,” he said happily. “You?”

“Brown.”

“ _Br-own?_ ” he said looking disgusted. “Like _shit brown_?”

She caught herself laughing at his juvenile behaviour.

“It’s your turn to ask me something now,” she informed him after he was just staring at her with a lop-sided grin.

Negan thought about it while scratching his salt and pepper beard. He suddenly grinned and leered in like a Bond villain.

“What’s your favourite sex position?”

She sighed. She should have figured he would think of something inappropriate to say during a game that was made for toddlers.

“You know you’re my boss, right?” she groaned. “This has to violate like, at least one sexual harassment policy or something.”

Negan’s smile spread even wider. He was liking that she was talking more, she could tell.

“No rules in this game, kitten. Answer the question.”

“Doggy,” she blurted bluntly. He wanted to know? Fine. She would tell him, she wasn’t embarrassed… at least… not enough to give him the satisfaction of making her look like she was. “You?”

Negan’s eyes widened at her response and he put a hand on her bare knee giving it a domineering squeeze.

“Same, baby. We should try it together sometime.”

She folded her legs under herself ridding herself of his touch. She was feeling hot and sweaty in places she hadn’t in a _very_ long time. She just kept remembering the first night when he was laughing like a crazy person while bashing that man’s face in to put his advances into perspective.

_If you sleep with this guy, you’re sleeping with a man that **likes** murdering people… _

“How long ago did you find the Sanctuary?” she asked.

“Couple months after shit hit the fan. How come you and your brothers never joined a community until now?”

“We did. It didn’t work out,” she said quickly.

“How come it didn’t work out?” he asked, forgetting the game completely.

She winced. She didn’t really want to answer, not because it was some grand reveal, but because it was a painful memory. She didn’t like talking about this with anyone let alone the Sanctuary’s _leader_.

“It… It just… didn’t,” she said.

“You know,” he said scooting even closer. “You have this amazing ability to answer with a non-answers all the fucking time. And I gotta say, honey, it was cute in the beginning and now it’s just getting irritating.”

His knees were touching her legs now, he had plainly shuffled all the way across the couch during their conversation. Even though she was pressed hard against the arm rest on the opposite side, he just stayed put.

Her eyes lingered on his dirty jeans brushing up against her shins. She didn’t like to be touched and he didn’t seem to get it.

“So,” he said putting a hand under her chin and forcing her to look at him. “You’re going to tell me. Not only because I’m the fuckin’ boss and I say so. But also because I need to know who’s guarding my back. That’s how trust is built, sweetie.”

He was gripping her jaw now, almost painfully tight. She could stop looking into his whiskey covered eyes. He was handsome, she’d give him that. She just wished he weren’t looking at her with such an intense stare. It was like he was staring into her soul. 

“I’m _waiting_ ,” he growled.

She ripped her chin from his hand and looked out the window. She didn’t want to see his prying eyes.

“We found a spot in Ohio. Only about fifteen people. Nothing like the Sanctuary, not as many rules… It was fine, the people were nice, but the winters were brutal. So we hoofed it here for the weather and were looking for a spot when you guys found us,” she said simply.

It was half the story with major holes and plot points missing, but she didn’t care. It gave him what he wanted.

“You just left because it was cold?” he asked in disbelief.

She sighed and decided to give him a little more. It couldn’t hurt, nothing was revealing about it.

“Frank has a bad temper,” she mumbled quietly. “He retaliated against someone, and the leader freaked out. Tried putting us in a cell.”

“And?”

“And nothing. We left. The end,” she snapped.

Negan snorted and leaned back on the couch. He lifted his arm so it draped over the back. “What did they do to deserve his retaliation?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anymore. It’s in the past.”

“Fine. Don’t answer,” he muttered. “But you do have to tell me what Frank did to retaliate. For my own safety. In case he tries to pull the same shit on me.”

She knew he was full of shit, but she couldn’t argue with his logic. Not convincingly anyways.

She winced and tried to make herself melt into the couch unsuccessfully. “He… uh… waterboarded the leader, cut out his tongue and then beat him to death.”

Negan’s eyes shot up to his hairline. He stared at her like she had three heads before he burst out into laughter.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck did the leader do to him to make Frankie-Boy so mad?”

“I told you,” she hissed. “It’s in the past. It doesn’t matter.” 

She kept a steady gaze with him, challenging him. She didn’t dare back down. She wasn’t about to air all her dirty laundry to this fucking asshole. He was used to getting his way so this would be a good change for him.

He chuckled and motioned for her to try the wine. When she did, she cursed him because it was fucking delicious.

“One of these days I’m going to get it out of you,” Negan promised. “You just wait and see.”

She nodded and finally took a sip of the wine. She almost moaned it was so fucking good. She maneuvered her legs away from him so she was in a sitting position to examine the bottle.

“Good shit?” he asked curiously. “I never drank wine. All taste the same to me.”

“Probably because you grew up in some hick town drinking piss water that barely met the standard to be considered beer,” she muttered forgetting herself and who she was talking to.

Her eyes widened to the size of teacup saucers and her mouth fell open at her comment. What the fuck was she doing? He was a ruthless leader that enjoyed burning the side of people’s faces!

Just when she was about to apologize, Negan erupted into a laughing fit.

“Yeah, well, you’re probably right about that, honey,” he said giggling. “Jesus, you have a fuckin’ mouth on you, eh? Always the quiet ones you gotta look out for.”

She shrugged. She didn’t let on that her heart was hammering in her chest. He made her nervous when she wasn’t sure where his temper was going to be on that particular day. She liked this Negan; he was playful and funny. Not such a hard ass.

 _Tonight is going to be a long night,_ she thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Negan was staring. He knew this, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. When she came downstairs, he was surprised her hair wasn’t wet. His cock instantly hardened at the silky raven tresses that cascaded down her shoulders and to her waist. It was his first time seeing it down and he wanted to run his fingers through it. When she rounded the corner of the couch his eyes bulged at her shapely bare legs. She usually kept herself covered, so he was excited to see her show off her figure a little more. He only wished she hadn’t worn the ugly frumpy hoodie. It swallowed her lithe body too much for his liking. He pointlessly wondered what she would look like wearing his wives signature tight dress and heels.

She would never become a wife. He knew that as soon as he had a conversation with her longer than two minutes. She was strong, hard-headed, and didn’t need a anyone to take care of her. She had her brothers for support. She didn’t need him.

Negan wasn’t that shocked to learn that Frank was just as ruthless as he portrayed himself to be. When Negan saw him slit that woman’s through without a second thought he knew he would be a good addition to the team. It wasn’t surprising that he would torture a man who tried to hurt his brother and sister. It was however surprising that he chose such horrific methods. He made a mental note in case he needed some dirty work done.

She was twirling her forefinger around the mouth of the wineglass absentmindedly, lost in thought. She had only drunk about half a glass, but she looked pleased at his choice of wine.

“How long has Simon been with you?” she asked meekly.

Negan looked at her up and down before answering.

 _Why the hell does she want to know that?_ He thought.

“Almost since the beginning. He came to us right after the gates were up and functional. He was a skinny fucker then, practically starving.”

She nodded and took a dainty sip. He had to adjust the swell in his jeaned when watched the blood red wine hit her plump lips.

“Why do you ask?” he asked, trying to distract himself.

She finally looked him in the eye. “Frank likes him. Said he’s a good worker. I was just curious.”

Negan snorted and took a sip of the foul-tasting liquid. “Does Frank really like anyone?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Not really. That’s why I found it surprising.”

Negan laughed with her. He idly wondered if she had the same disposition of Frank when it came to other people. He wondered if she despised everyone as much as her brother did.

“You know…” he started casually. “I was thinking of taking on a new wife.”

“Meltzoff,” she replied dryly making him chuckle.

He knew she would say no, but he was curious what her reasoning would be.

“Yeah, it would be nice having a hot little Chica such as yourself to double as my wife and bodyguard,” he said. “What do you say, honey?”

“No thanks,” she retorted. “I don’t have high aspirations to become a concubine.”

Negan’s eyebrows rose again. He was a little surprised at her snappy comeback. She was becoming more and more bold around him in private.

“They aren’t concubines,” he argued. “They get treated right and they’re never forced into anything they don’t wanna do. They all had a choice. Everyone has a choice.”

She gave him a tight smile and put her wine back on the coffee table. “Of course,” she replied contemptuously.

He snorted at her obvious attempt to dispel the argument that was going to come. She clearly didn’t agree with him.

“You think I’m a pig, don’t you?” he stated bluntly.

Billie shook her head. “No,” she said folding her arms across her chest. “I think you’re a man in the apocalypse.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

She cracked her neck and looked him reluctantly in the eye. “It means that people do whatever they want now. It’s just a part of living in these times.”

Negan sat up straighter. “So you think all men are rapist farm animals that will just take advantage of every woman they see?” he asked incredulously.

“No,” she contended. “I’m saying that _everyone_ has turned into pigs that take advantage of everyone. Not just men. There is no civility anymore. It just doesn’t exist.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think, doll?”

“It’s a harsh world.”

Negan sat back and eyed her up and down. He was a little taken aback with her evident bitter outlook on the world. He didn’t necessarily disagree with her, but he did think there was still something left to humanity. 

“I made rules for people to follow,” he said. “That proves there is still civility in the world.”

She snorted and mushed her legs further under herself. “People follow them because they’re scared of you and your bat. If you didn’t make the rules everyone would be in chaos.”

“Precisely,” he agreed. “People follow the rules and that forces them to be civilized. Do you think the men would resort to savagery just because I axe the rules?”

She sat there for a minute contemplating his idea. He was enjoying this debate with her. It was probably the first real conversation he had that didn’t revolve around staying alive in a long time.

“I… I…. think… It’s past my bedtime now,” she said quickly lurching to her feet. “Or do you need me for anything else?”

He chuckled. She was uncomfortable with their deep philosophical talk this late in the evening. She probably thought he was just as stupid as his other men. He wondered if she ever chatted to Dwight about this shit or if she saved the real conversation for him?

“Oh, I need a whole lot more from you,” he growled. “But you’re right, we should hit the hay. Your bed or mine?”

“Hardy-har,” she muttered turning her back and stomping up the stairs.

The last thing he heard was her deadbolting her bedroom door before he downed the last of the wine.

**XXXX**

  
  


Negan rounded the corner of the truck, giving Rick an overzealous wave as he hopped into the truck.

They had packed up all the shit, leaving one truck empty. He decided that a run looking for supplies would not due for his rank in the Sanctuary, so he opted out and sent Aaron, Arat and Billie out on their own.

He was a little floored after his conversation with her last night. He stayed up late thinking about it. He couldn’t believe that she was so bitter in her age. He learned from Arat that she as thirty-six years old. So he was about eleven years older than her, wasn’t a terrible age gap in his perspective. One of his wives was in her twenties…

He didn’t want her thinking he’d gone soft after their very honest conversation the night previous, so he barked orders at her all morning and demanded she leave with Aaron and Arat in a different truck. She looked less than concerned. She simply nodded and did as he asked. She had that damned blasé posture about her again and he hated it. He hated her indifference towards him more than her anger.

She was climbing into the back of a truck with a rifle strapped to her back. She didn’t look scared or even excited, she just looked bored.

He jogged over the vehicle in which she sat and leaned against the door.

“You all ready to go, doll?” he asked casually.

She nodded but didn’t look at him, she just stared out the front window of the truck.

“You should be back in a few days. Christ knows if you’ll actually find anything.”

She nodded mutely again.

 _So we’re back to this shit again?_ He thought before he snorted and shoved himself off the car.

“ _Fine_ ,” he growled while looking at Aaron climbing into the driver’s side. “Get the fuck outta here.”

He was done with her and her horrendous fucking attitude. From now on he vowed to treat her like every other soldier he had in his ranks. He was sick of playing the sappy wide-eyed boy toy. He was the leader of the fucking _Saviours_ , the scariest motherfucker around. He was the man that beat people to death with a wire covered baseball bat. He was a motherfucking king.

He clambered into his car with a huff. He was tired, hungry, and needed a fucking drink. He slammed on the gas and sprayed gravel all over Rick and his band of marry men. He didn’t care, he would be back here in a few weeks and would make sure they would pay up. That’s what they got for killing his men while they were sleeping. Such a cowards fucking move.

He peered through the rear-view mirror seeing Billie’s truck drive off in the other direction. He secretly wished she were in the passenger seat next to him rather than fucking Dwight. But he knew this trip would be good for her. He saw that she and her brother were getting a bit snaky inside the concrete walls of the Sanctuary. He just wished he could accompany her in doing so.

But this morning she was gone and out the door before he even woke. She didn’t even spare him a glance. He thought he made some headway with her last night, but it just didn’t seem to happen. If anything, she was just colder now than she ever was.

When he arrived back to the Sanctuary he ordered the men to unload the truck. He was about to make his way to his room when suddenly he heard someone clearing their throat behind him.

Negan turned to see Mark with his hands shoved in his pockets looking up at him meekly. Negan noted that his eyes were the same colour as Billies.

“You need somethin’?” Negan asked raising his bat onto his shoulder.

“Uh… no… I mean, yeah. I was… uh…. Just wondering where my sister was,” he said quietly.

When Negan didn’t answer right away, Mark misinterpreted and quickly back peddled.

“I… I just was wondering because I saw she didn’t come off the trucks and she was supposed to be back today and…. You know what? Never mind. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…”

“Relax, kid,” Negan muttered. “She went out on another run with Arat and Aaron. She’ll be back in a few days.”

“Oh,” Mark said running his hand through his shaggy hair. “I see. Do you know how many days exactly?”

“Mark!”

Both men turned to see an angry looking Frank stomp towards them. He grabbed Mark by the arm and yanked him away from Negan.

“Don’t you have some other shit you should be doing?”

“I was asking about Bill,” Mark explained with a bite in his tone. “Because _I_ actually give a shit about her.”

“Get back to your post and top bothering people with your _nagging_ ,” Frank growled.

Mark gave him a murderous glare but didn’t argue. He ripped his arm away from the larger man and trudged back inside the building.

Negan chuckled and pointed his bat at Frank. “Trouble with the Brady Bunch?”

Frank shook his head. “No. He just worries about her, that’s all. He should know by now she can handle herself out there. Apologies.”

Negan snorted. “No apologies necessary G.I. Joe. He’s worried about his sister. Its not a capital offence.”

He looked the muscley looking man up and down.

 _God_ , even the way he stood screamed military. Frank’s hands were clasped behind him and he stood upright and ready for orders. His crew cut was neatly parted and his jaw was set. Negan wondered if this guy ever loosened up like how he got Billie to the night previous.

“Your sister did good,” Negan said motioning for Frank to follow him inside. “She learn all that patrol shit from you?”

“Some,” he answerd. “Some from the military…. Some from just being on the road. She’s smart, she knows what to do when shit hits the fan. And she’s confident in those skills as am I.”

“She always so calm?” Negan couldn’t help but ask.

Negan nodded as they turned a corner to the cafeteria. “Yes. She’s a good fighter that way. She rarely lets her emotions get in the way. Especially for a woman.”

Negan raised an eyebrow and regarded Frank with a skeptical gaze.

He wasn’t one for all women’s rights and ra ra ra… but he was still shocked to see a man of his stature still have qualms about women in combat. He wondered if Billie knew that his mindset was archaic as it was.

“Right,” Negan replied evenly. “And what about you? Something tells me that based on the way you killed those three thieves when we first met, you don’t have quite a level of restraint that your sister does.”

Frank looked insulted. “I think I do,” he muttered irritably.

Negan chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t think you do. I think…” he took a step closer to him so he was right in Frank’s face. “I think you have a temper that can’t be controlled.”

Frank didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Negan could see he was angry and wanted to lash out. But he was exercising what little restraint he had left. This all of course proved his point. He remembered Billie saying that he had a temper. He didn’t believe her until now.

“Anywho,” Negan said taking a step back from the man whose face was going purple. “I’m gonna go find one of my wives. Got a hurtin’ for the squirtin’ if you catch my drift. Thanks for the chit chat Franky.”

With that he took his leave. Negan actually had to stop himself from laughing at Frank’s furious contorted face.

**XXXX**

“We need to move on this,” Simon snarled. “We can’t have these trucks being gone for more than a few days, tops. Especially if expect to keep up from collecting from other communities. The amount we’re wasting on gas alone…”

Negan drown out the usual moan and groan of Simon. He was always worried about the same shit. ‘We need more supplies, we need more communities to steal from, why are we going on scavenging missions?’ Blah, blah, blah…

Frank was growling something back at him. It seemed old Frankie did have a conscious and he didn’t like stealing from other people. He claimed he could get better shit on his own.

It had been almost five days since he saw Elizabeth leaving Alexandria to go on a run. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to get a little worried about her. The longest run he ever saw was six day, so this was pushing it. He was sure it didn’t go unnoticed that every few minutes he would glance at the gate, waiting for her to come home. 

“So with that suggestion, we take gas from other communities and _not_ food, is that what you’re saying?” Simon asked incredulously, pulling Negan from his inner monologue.

“We take from _everyone_ ,” Negan barked interrupting both men. “I don’t care who they are. They break my rules or empty a clip into any of my men, we take. End of fucking story.”

“They would trust us more if we gave them a little slack,” Frank said trying to reason with them.

Negan snorted and put his boots up on the table to rest his feet. “You give them an inch and they’ll take a yard. The answer is no, Frank. It’s easier to scare the piss outta them.”

Frank sat back looking a little sullen but said nothing. He knew when to shut up, just like his sister.

“How are we on the inventory front?” he asked changing the subject.

After three more meetings and one fist fight outbreak in the courtyard, Negan was calling it quits for today. He was exhausted. He liked it better when he was uttering threats and bashing people’s brains in from other communities. At least then he could handle the irritation by getting the physical stuff out of the way. He hated negotiating and meetings and all that shit. He only liked talking when it entertained him.

It was late in the afternoon; the sun was beginning to set, turning the sky a shade of orange and pink. He was just about to go back inside when he heard a truck come barrelling down the gravel path leading to the Sanctuary. He grabbed Lucile and readied himself for a fight, but stopped when he heard the transmission back up. He would recognize one his truck’s anywhere.

His Billie Jean was home.

He waited with the other Saviours on the other side of the slowly opening gate. Most of the men were cheering and clapping at the newly found supplies. It was sort of a tradition that Negan didn’t totally hate. He liked when the men’s spirits were up and happy. He was a little shocked the truck looked stacked full. Usually these scavenging missions were shitty compared to stealing from other communities.

When the truck finally came to a halt Aaron and Arat jumped out of the front seat. Negan’s heart leapt into overdrive when he didn’t see Elizabeth at first. He counted to ten before he finally saw the back flap of the car slap open. He was finally met with relief when Billie emerged from the tarp covering the back. 

She was covered from head to toe with dirt and blood, even more so than when he first met her. Her gun was strapped to her back, just the same as when she left him. She still had that relaxed expression, looking like she just came home from the mall rather than a zombie-filled foraging operation. 

He was about to approach her when Mark sprinted from behind him and ran into her going 100 miles an hour. Negan was actually shocked she didn’t fall over when he slammed into her. She laughed in response with her blood caked arms wrapping around his ribs. It was the first time he saw a full fledged, genuine laugh.

Frank followed soon after but walked a little more casually. Although he tried to appear that he was calm, Negan could see him quicken his pace as he neared his baby sister. He wrapped her in an intense bear hug, one arm snaking around her waist, while his other hand grasped the back of her tiny head. Her face slammed into his chest as he lifted her tiny frame off the ground. His giant hand practically took up the entire expanse of her head. He looked like he was hugging her so hard he was hurting her.

He saw the men unloading the packed truck. They were pulling out box after box of medical supplies. There was everything from band-aids to blood pressure medication. He was stunned to see such high priority things being found so late into the apocalypse. It was next to impossible to find any of that shit as hospitals were the first place people raided when the apocalypse hit. His mouth actually dropped open when he saw a box full on insulin. That shit was almost unheard of.

Negan sauntered over to Billie and her brothers. He wanted to hear what the mission was like before he interrogated her. 

“What happened?” Frank growled after releasing her from his death grip and putting her on the ground.

“Ran into a herd,” she reported. “We’re fine. We handled it.”

“You shouldn’t have run into a herd in the first place. You should have been paying more attention than that,” Frank lectured. “Did you use the knives I gave you?”

“Yes.”

“On zombies, or people?”

Billie looked at Negan for a brief moment before staring at the ground abashedly. Apparently, she didn’t want to have this conversation around him. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other before she mumbled a low: “Both.”

Frank nodded once and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Aaron?”

“No. Someone else. He’s dead. Doesn’t matter.”

Negan snorted. “Well excuse the shit out of me, sweets,” he declared interrupting their little family meeting. He didn’t like that she was trying to keep him in the dark about what happened on the raid. “It most certainly _does_ matter. Simon, why don’t you get that sweet little ass of hers upstairs to my office for a report. I wanna have a chat.”

Simon looked at him questioningly. “Uh, sir? Don’t you want Aaron to? He was the leader on this – ”

“ – Did I fucking ask for your opinion?!” Negan yelled back. “I don’t give a shit who was lead! I _asked_ you to bring Billie up there!”

Simone wordlessly nodded and grabbed Billie’s arm and towed her away. She ripped her arm away from him easily and marched forward, entirely pissed off in being manhandled.

Negan grinned. He was happy his little lady was back in his


	7. Chapter 7

Billie sat in Negan’s office, bored out of her tree, staring out the small window. She lifted the hem of her shirt and smelled the fabric, almost gagging at the stench.

She really needed a shower and something to eat. On the road they only ate granola bars throughout the day and a can of beans for dinner. She had gotten used to the amazing meals the Sanctuary kitchen staff had managed to throw together during the duration of her stay. She would really miss that if Frank decided their time with Negan and his men was over.

She yawned loudly and leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes and waited for their almighty leader to come and grill her on the millions of questions she was sure he had.

She didn’t understand why she was the one up here and not Aaron. He was the one leading the mission, even if he did do a shit job at it. Negan duty should be his job, not hers. 

She hated that she was the one that Negan took a fancy to. She despised attention and hated to be fussed over. That why she always flew under the radar as a pilot. She enjoyed being with her team and away from her superiors. She actually preferred it. The same went with most things in her life. She liked being above average, but also remaining unnoticed. Her father was always saying that no one liked a cocky showboat. If you do your work to the best of your ability, and don’t brag or flaunt around like your shit doesn’t stink, then people should leave you alone. All that was usually true until Negan came along. He seemed to constantly want to be around her and she loathed it.

She was so lost in thought that when the door opened, she jumped in her seat.

Negan chuckled at being able to scare her, but didn’t say anything. He placed his bat on the table and took a seat at the opposite her. 

He simply sat there evaluating her. His eyes were blatantly looking up and down her body unashamed to be checking her out so openly. At this point she was used to it, almost flattered by it, but she didn’t say anything.

“You look like you’ve been through hell and back, honey,” he finally said.

She shrugged. It wasn’t the worst situation she found herself in during a run. She was just happy that Arat and Aaron got out of there alive and with little to no injuries.

“Well?” he snapped irately. “I don’t have all fuckin’ day. You’re up here for a report.”

She sighed and cracked her neck.

“We left Alexandria and came across a hospital about seven hours down highway 6,” she started.

Negan rolled his eyes and interrupted before she could say another word. “That hospital is always crawling with walkers.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “Aaron said that. But he also said you guys never raided it before so we decided to give it a shot.”

Negan raised an eyebrow but motioned for her to continue.

“So Aaron ran out the truck and hot wired a truck and drove off blaring on the horn to get their attention. Arat and I tried to get into the hospital after it all cleared, but they everything was locked. So I climbed a tree nearby and got in through a window,” she started.

Negan looked completely enthralled in her story. He was grinning from ear to ear and sis elbows were leaning on the table.

“I let her in from the inside and we loaded the truck with as much as we could. I barricaded the door again so we can go back for another load. After that we went to look for Aaron. He ran out of gas and was trying to fight them off by himself. So we barreled through the crowd and got him to hop on top of the truck and we drove off,” she said quickly.

She hated reporting this shit. She never understood why it mattered. They got the supplies, why did they need to know all the dirty details of how they did it?

“Aaron lost his footing on the roof and then he fell unfortunately,” she continued. “We had to stop and pick him up, had to fight off a bunch of them, we wrestled Aaron out from them before he got bit though… Then as we were getting back to the truck, we saw a group of scavengers were waiting for us. They had guns pointed at us and told us to give them the keys, so I killed them.”

“How?” Negan asked leaning forward so much that he was practically laying on the tabletop.

“I threw my knives at them. Their guns weren’t even loaded. They were bluffing.”

Negan leaned back in his chair, evaluating her from head to toe.

She sat patiently, letting him figure out what snappy sexual comeback he would no doubt throw her way. 

“Well…” he said quietly. “That’s quite a story, doll.”

She nodded and stared at the floor.

“Even if it was galactically stupid to go in that fuckin’ hospital,” he growled. “You could’ve been eaten alive by biters.”

She nodded again.

She agreed with him, but Aaron wanted to impress the big bad Negan. It was his idea since it was his first time on a run without him. He was hoping to pull up in the ranks of the Sanctuary faster by showing how brave he was. Even if it was Billie that had to rescue his stupid ass.

“So,” Negan said slapping his hands together in a loud clap. “That begs the question: What to do with you?”

She shifted in her chair uncomfortably. She wasn’t nervous of what he would do. If anything happened to her she had utter confidence in Frank and his abilities. She just hoped it didn’t come to that. Both her brothers seemed happy here now. Mark was actually putting weight on and Frank was finally smiling ore than once a month.

She cleared her throat delicately before speaking. “I wouldn’t mind continuing wall duty,” she murmured quietly. 

Negan chuckled and ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair. He cracked his knuckles while looking at her thoughtfully.

“Why’s that? You did good. You got more medical supplies than we’ve seen in a year. Why the fuck do you want to go back to the wall for?”

“I like the wall,” she mumbled lamely. She couldn’t come up with a better excuse than that. “Plus, it was all Aaron’s idea. He’s the one that should be getting the praise.”

Negan snorted and folded his arms across his chest. “He got his ass caught up in a bind and had to get a 90-pound woman to save him. Aaron didn’t do shit.”

“Aarat saved him too,” she clarified. “And he did the best he could. Anyone would’ve gotten stuck out there.”

He rolled his eyes in response. “Clearly, you don’t like going on runs,” he surmised.

“No,” she snapped. “I like runs. What I _don’t_ like is having to come up here and talk with you about it when _I_ wasn’t the one in charge.”

Negan glared at her and pointed a finger in her face. “I can do whatever I want, toots! I own this place! I don’t give a shit who was in charge. I wanted you up here because I know you wont try and suck my dick like Aaron. I knew you’d give it to me straight.”

It took every ounce of her free will not to snap at him again. She was tired, hungry, and just wanted a nap. She was sick of him constantly berating her like a toddler.

“Whatever,” she grumbled.

“Need I remind you who the fuck you’re talking to?” Negan snarled.

She sighed and mumbled a half-assed apology. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open and it was getting to her. Normally she would never talk back to her superior like she was now, but she was just so fucking tired.

There was a knock at the door and Negan screamed at them to fuck off.

“Negan,” she said finally rubbing her dirty fingers into her eyes. “I’m really fucking tired. And really fucking hungry. I need a shower and I’ve told you what you needed to know. Aaron would be more than willing to come up and tell you the rest of the story, but that pretty much summarizes the past few days. If you want, I will even come with you to show you how I got into the hospital. But I really just need some sleep. I drove all night without a break and when I get tired I get bitchy. So I’d rather we discuss this another time so I stop snapping at you,” she said honestly.

Negan smiled and shook his head with a chuckle. She thought he’d be mad by her outburst, but he actually looked… happy. Like he was waiting for her to finally crack.

“That’s all I wanted, honey. For you to be honest with me for a change, and not all that military fake bullshit. The, ‘yes sir’, ‘no sir,’ was really getting on my nerves.”

She sighed. “I don’t like talking a lot so it’s easier to just nod and agree,” she admitted tiredly.

“Well no more,” he growled. “That shit might fly with your brother, but I prefer knowing my people and not that counterfeit shit. If you have something to say I want you to say it.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly. “I’ll try.”

“Good,” Negan said slapping his knees with his palms before rising. “Now, I’ll go tell the guys to bring some food up here for us. I skipped lunch.”

Billie nodded once in acceptance. She was too tired to do otherwise. She was hungrier than she was tired at this point and a hot plate sounded like heaven.

A few minutes later a Savior she barely recognized knocked on the door delivering meatless lasagna and a diet coke for each of them. While she ate Negan poured three fingers of whiskey for both of them. She couldn’t help but notice he didn’t touch his plate. He was watching her inhale her food.

Finally he sighed and pushed his plate towards her. When she started to shake her head, he held a finger up to her.

“Eat you,” he commanded. “You need it more than me.” 

For once she decided to listen to him without protest and happily devoured his food as well. When she reached for her coke, she opted for the whiskey instead. She figured she deserved it since she was almost ripped apart by a herd of walkers. The whiskey warmed her belly and made the lasagna settle more smoothly.

When she finished eating, she covered her face to yawn. Looking up at him she cocked her head to the side. He was staring at her again and it was making her slightly nervous.

“What?” she asked.

“You eat with anyone besides your brothers?” he asked.

“Huh?” she said looking at him confused.

“When you take your lunch,” he clarified. “Do you ever eat with anyone besides your brothers?”

Billie thought about it for a minute before she answered. “I eat with Dwight sometimes…”

Negan rolled his eyes. “Anyone else?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Never really thought about it. Why are you asking me this?”

Negan also shrugged. “Just curious. The guys seem to like you well enough. Arat even likes you, which is unheard of. You’re fuckin’ hot as shit. I’m surprised no guy has tried to scoop your sweet little ass up yet. You’d probably stab them if they tried though, eh?”

Despite herself, she actually laughed. Negan smiled in return, clearly happy he was able to make her smile.

“I had a boyfriend,” she said offering him the first piece of personal information she had in a while. “I lost him a while ago.”

“Dead?”

She shrugged. “Probably. He disappeared when the world ended. I couldn’t find him and Frank was adamant on leaving before things got worse.”

Negan chuckled and took a long swig of his whiskey. “Doesn’t sound like you really gave a shit about him.”

Billie swirled the whiskey around her glass for a moment. She loved Ethan… at the time. She thought he loved her too, until she found out he cheated on her a day before the apocalypse. Now she wasn’t so sure.

She finally put the glass back on the table in front of her and stood. “He was another lifetime ago.”

Negan snorted and downed what was left in his glass. “Tomorrow you’re with me. Not the wall. I want to see how exactly you work. After that we’ll see where I find more use for you.”

She nodded in acceptance and had to make a physical effort to keep her eyes open.

“I I really need to shower, and Frank is probably waiting on the other side of that door to grill me as well.”

He chuckled. “Want me to tell him he’s on night rounds for the next three days?”

She laughed once and shook her head. “Thanks but no thanks.”

Negan prowled closer to her and put his hands on the arm rests of her chair and leaned in. His nose was an inch away from her own.

“You really are a sexy little thing, aren’t you?” he murmured. “Really is a shame you don’t want to be my wife.”

She didn’t know what she did to spark this sudden outpouring. She certainly didn’t think she looked nor smelled like anything sexy. She was covered in sweat, mud, and rotting blood from biters. She thought she looked more like a mess than anything else.

“Uh… thanks?” she said not sure what to say.

He grinned that adorable smile and suddenly swooped in a rammed his mouth against her own. His hands remained on the armrests, caging her in like an animal.

She squeaked beneath his lips and froze. She didn’t know what to do. She was also surprised to find that she mildly enjoyed the feeling of his lips on her own. She hadn’t felt physical contact that was non-brotherly since the world ended.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she sighed. Negan took this opportunity to let his tongue slide against her lips until she gasped, slipping it into her mouth. The kiss didn’t last long, maybe a few seconds before he pulled away with the same smile plastered across his face.

She looked up at him in shock at what she allowed. Billie couldn’t believe she just kissed him. He was a killer and a brute and she just let him out his tongue in her mouth! She quickly put both hands on his shoulders a shoved him away as hard as she could. She wasn’t surprised when he barely moved. Even though he was lean he was still strong.

She scrambled up out of her chair, sending it flying across the room and clattering against a filing cabinet. She quickly scurried away from him and wrenched the door open and raced down the stairs.

 _Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! shit!_ She thought.

His laughter was still echoing in the halls as ran back to her room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short one this time! Comments and Kudos appreciated!

Negan whistled to himself as he walked down the long corridor leading outside. He was in a chipper mood since he kissed little Billie a week ago. Even if it was too short.

He barely saw her since then. In fact, he’d only seen her disappearing figure once as she turned and practically ran in the other direction two days ago. He was more than happy that she was trying to avoid him. He knew it meant she was scared of his more than forward advances. He knew it meant she was getting a little hot and heavy herself when he kissed her plump lips.

He was about to round the corner when he stopped. He knew these doors were her and her brother’s rooms. He thought about it for a minute before he grinned and moved to knock on her door.

To his surprise the door opened but it wasn’t her that was behind it. Instead, he was greeted by a frowning Frank.

“You need something?” he asked.

“Where’s your sister?” Negan demanded. He was irritated that G.I. Joe was the one that answered instead of her.

“Out.”

Negan raised an eyebrow at him in annoyance. “ _Out_? In case you didn’t notice, there isn’t many places for her to go _out_ to. Where the fuck is she?”

Frank gripped the door tighter. “She went to some thing with Dwight. I think Mark and the maintenance guys were putting it on. It’s a card game or something I don’t know.”

“Well, then why _the fuck_ are you in her room?”

Frank chuckled darkly. “Somebody’s gotta keep the wolves away.”

Negan straightened up and took a step forward to get in his face. He sneered at the meathead threateningly and cocked his head.

“And what, pray tell, is that supposed to fucking mean?”

Frank clenched his jaw and balled his fists up at his side. Negan prayed this idiot would do something, anything, just so he could finally punch this son of a bitch.

“She told me what you did,” he said through gritted teeth. “She told me you forced a kiss on her. That shit doesn’t really fly in our family.”

He had to admit he was surprised she was so open with her siblings in such matters. He supposed that’s how they stayed alive for so long. Being honest usually meant that things weren’t missed and errors weren’t made.

Negan laughed maniacally. “Oh yeah? Didn’t really feel forced to me. I think she liked it. She’s been eye fucking me ever since she got here.”

Much to his surprise and disappointment, Frank didn’t hit him. He didn’t even look mad. He just laughed and folded his arms across his chest.

“Yeah,” Frank snickered. “ _That’s_ why she’s out with another guy playing cards. Tell me, does it bother you that my sister would choose hang out with some deformed prick and a bunch of low-level misfits rather than you?”

Negan chuckled and cracked his neck. He wanted to put this guy down, but he knew that Billie would never speak to him again.

He opted for a snort at the stupid solider and turned to leave. He refused to let this woman occupy more of his mind than she already was.

He decided to go find Sherry. He figured if he couldn’t spray Frank’s brains on the wall he could at least get a hate fuck in.

**XXXX**

Billie hummed as she laced her boots for the day. It was day three of watching Negan and she was actually excited in doing it again. He wasn’t as much of an annoyance as she initially thought. She learned he was a good leader, he seemed to know all his men by name, who they were friends with, who they were sleeping with, it was like he knew everything. He also knew the building inside and out. He knew if something was wrong by just a mere glance. Billie was shocked at his attention to detail. She always just thought he was just a King of his castle that left Simon to do the dirty work. But it seemed as though Negan was just as hard of a worker as anyone else around the place.

He used this to his advantage, he would growl orders at those who were slacking and would prove to the others that he was not about mending fences or shoveling dirt. He led his team well, even if it was through careful communication and sometimes fear. Which was more than she could sometimes say about Frank. He wouldn’t communicate at all. He would just bark orders and expect them to be followed.

Since their kiss he stopped leering at her. In fact, he stopped all unwanted advances all together. It was like she was almost invisible to him.

In the public she was treated just like anyone else. She was happy about that. She didn’t need any men trying to get in her pants… even if she did enjoy the kiss more than she was willing to admit.

She now spent the last few evenings with Dwight and some of the maintenance crew playing cards. She found she liked laughing and joking with the men and women. They seemed like regular people, rolling their eyes at Negan's theatrics and never really took themselves too seriously. It was almost a relief to be around them. 

She was walking in the dark hall strapping a gun to her hip when she heard Negan yell to her.

“Billie!” Negan shouted.

She turned and saw him walking towards her with a smile and Lucille propped over his shoulder.

“How the hell are ya’?” he asked.

“Fine,” she replied. “You?”

He chuckled and raked his eyes over her body. “Just peachy now that I found you. Where’s that meat head of a brother of yours?”

Billie shrugged. “Probably getting food with Mark.”

“You eat yet?” he said eyeing her skeptically.

It was not unknown that Billie often skipped meals. This annoyed Negan to no end. She thought that if she was needed by her leader, that meals were not necessary. She could hold herself over for some time before it was needed. It was a quality that worked well in the apocalypse. Frank and Mark did not have this quality.

“No,” she finally answered. “I was just headed there now.”

“Good,” he replied curtly. “I fucking hate it when you don’t. Let’s go.”

She raised and eyebrow at him but followed none the less to the cafeteria. She was a little confused as to why he wanted to eat with her and her siblings, but she didn’t question it.

When they entered the cafeteria, the few people there began to rise to kneel before him. Billie was about to do the same but Negan quickly waved them off.

She spotted Mark and Frank huddled in the corner before she quickly grabbed her food and sat down at their table.

Mark ignored Negan all together. It was obvious that he didn’t really care for the older man being so close with his older sister.

“I think he’d win,” Mark declared to the table.

“What?” she said.

“We were having a debate in whether if Aaron would win in a fight with Dave,” Frank mumbled. It was clear that Frank didn’t want to have this conversation with Negan present. “Mark thinks Dave would win.”

“He would,” Billie said stirring her oatmeal. “Dave was a Field Marshal before the world ended. Plus he did cross fit for like, ten years. Aaron is just a brute.”

“Plus, he’s reckless,” Mark said.

Frank snorted and took a sip of coffee. “Recklessness is sometimes needed when you need to take risks. Aaron is good at calculating situations and acting accordingly. Just because Dave was a Marshal doesn’t mean he’s smart. It just means he knows how to follow orders. I know some Field Marshals that were complete idiots.”

“True,” Negan said chiming in. “But Davey is a fuckin’ savage. He’ll jab someone’s eyes out in a fight if that’s what it takes to win. I’d rather have an ogre than a calculator defending me.”

Frank seemed to mull it over for a moment before he shrugged and looked at Billie.

“You ever talk to Dave?” he asked suddenly, eyeing her up.

Billie took a bite of her apple before answering. She knew where he was going with this. She knew that Frank could see a monster from ten miles away.

“I never had the pleasure,” she finally answered.

“Good. Stay away from him,” Frank growled. 

She nodded and looked out the window so she didn’t have to see Negan’s stare. 

“Why’s she gotta do that?” Mark asked not catching on.

“Because he’s a fucking lunatic that could go off any second,” Negan answered bluntly. It was as if it annoyed him that Mark had to even ask.

Billie perked up in her plastic chair and quickly changed the subject.

“And Franky, I need you with Simon today. I’m going to be away and need someone to make sure the guys don’t slack off,” Negan said.

Frank nodded obediently and kept shoveling oatmeal in his mouth. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes and she could tell by Negan’s smirk that he was about to say something to piss off Frank. She decided to squash it before it could begin.

“So,” she said brightly. “Mark, what’s happening on the maintenance front?”

Mark grinned and cracked his knuckles. “We might actually get better lights outside. I re-wired the output system and the service board might actually…”

Billie continued to nod and pretend she understood half the shit he was saying. She always liked it when Mark got excited about nerdy stuff. He could go on and on and it was always a great distraction. That was, until he mentioned something that she didn’t really want Negan to know.

“…I mean, really an idiot could see it. I was surprised Joe could be so stupid. Say, he also said you’re going to the poker game tonight with Dwight? Can you bring me that bottle I left in your room? I’m going too, but I don’t think I’ll play. Unless you want me to count cards like we used to? That was always entertaining –”

“– what?” Negan growled. “You’re going to that fucking thing? _Again_?”

How did he know I was at the last game? She thought to herself. She never told him anything about it in the last few days. Unless he was keeping tabs on her?

He knew everything about everyone it seemed. And judging by her last few days in the Sanctuary, that seemed like a viable option. But why would it matter that she was attending a card game? It wasn’t like he could use that piece of information to his advantage. She didn’t think he truly liked her in that matter. She just thought he was looking for another fuck buddy. Unless he liked her more than he was letting on?

Billie swallowed her oatmeal loudly and quickly put that thought to the side. There was no possible way this man with multiple sleeping partners would give a shit about her.

“I… uh… yeah… just felt like I should get out and do something. The guys are fun…”

Negan snorted and chugged his burning coffee. She winced at the sight. It looked painful.

“Better get a move on, doll. Be outside in ten. We’re going to that hospital today to get the remainder of our shit.”

With that, Negan stood from the table and waltzed out of the cafeteria, whistling while doing so.

“What’s his problem?” Frank growled.

“Dunno,” she said. “I better get moving though.”

“Bill,” Frank said grabbing her arm and pulling her close. “He comes at you again you better lay him the fuck out. I don’t like that you’re going on this trip with him. Being alone in a car and all.”

“I can take care of myself,” she quipped curtly.

With that she got up from the table and followed Negan out the door. She decided that for the rest of the day she would keep her focus on the task at hand and ignore the flame that was resonating in her belly.


End file.
